


Say A Little Prayer For Me

by chemicalcandy, Romancandle



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Anal Sex, Asshole Frank Iero, BDSM, Dom Frank Iero, Dom/sub, Frank Iero Is A Little Shit, Ghost Frank Iero, Ghost Sex, Humiliation, Inappropriate Humor, M/M, Masturbation, Orgasm Delay/Denial, Shy Gerard Way, Sub Gerard Way, fear kink
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:35:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21859153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chemicalcandy/pseuds/chemicalcandy, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Romancandle/pseuds/Romancandle
Summary: Gerard finally moves out of his parents’ house and into his very own apartment. It’s all good at first - but then more and more unexplainable things happen and he realizes there must be a presence living in the apartment. And unfortunately, this ghost’s only goal seems to be fucking with Gerard until he can’t take it anymore.
Comments: 148
Kudos: 197





	1. Chapter 1

Moving out was fucking hard.

Gerard had spent the entire day carrying boxes out of his parents’ house, getting a headache from driving through the busy city, and then carrying the same boxes into his new home on the thirteenth floor. He’d never been more grateful elevators existed but if Ray and Mikey hadn’t helped him, he still wouldn’t even be halfway done. He didn’t even have a lot of shit, and luckily the apartment had already been furnished, but he was exhausted and in desperate need of some rest.

He groaned thinking about how much shit he needed to do tomorrow. The boxes needed to be unpacked, there wasn’t any food in the fridge, and he also really wanted to explore the neighborhood a bit. He was scheduled to work the following two days, so he wanted to get as much done as he could.

His stomach growled when he sat down on the sofa heavily. _His_ sofa – he’d really done it. He’d moved out and his mother could stop giving him all the subtle and not so subtle hints. It wasn’t like Gerard had _wanted_ to still be living in his parents’ basement at the age of twenty-six, but having someone do your laundry, make your food and wake you up when you overslept was awfully convenient, not to mention he was terrible at all the responsibilities that came with living by himself. Knowing he’d wake up tomorrow and Mikey wouldn’t be anywhere near him was strange, too. Their parents’ house was just a forty-minute drive away, but usually Mikey was just a thirty-second _walk_ away, so Gerard kind of felt like he’d lost his best friend.

But at least the place was nice. And ridiculously cheap. And the comic book store he worked at was just around the corner. No more getting up at ass o’clock so he could make it to the store in time – now he could get up at 8, which was still early but a definite improvement, take his time in the shower and while drinking coffee, then grab another coffee at the art city coffee shop down the road, and comfortably make it to the store at 9. He was kind of looking forward to doing that. It gave him this wonderful feeling of having his life sorted, which didn’t happen very often.

He’d almost ordered his pizza when he remembered there _was_ some food in the fridge. His mom had made his favorite casserole and suggested Gerard should go knock on some of his new neighbors’ doors, invite them over for dinner, make some new friends. She felt bad for all but kicking Gerard out, even though they both knew she only meant well and wanted him to really get started in life, and he just couldn’t do that while living in their basement. Gerard was glad she couldn't see him eating the casserole on the couch all by himself - He sure as fuck wasn’t talking to any neighbors tonight. Maybe not ever, if he could avoid it.

He tripped over two boxes on his way to the bedroom a few hours later, too sleepy to really care. Tomorrow he’d take care of the mess in his apartment. He’d definitely done enough today. Sleep came almost immediately, and Gerard drifted off into peaceful quiet.

When he woke up a couple hours later, he was disoriented for a couple of moments. Something had woken him up. Some weird noise he didn’t recognize… And just when he was about to fall asleep again, he heard it once more. It took him a few seconds to realize it was his doorbell.

Even grumpier than he usually was after waking up he scuffed through the apartment, magically avoiding the boxes on the floor so he didn’t trip again, and unlocked the door.

And immediately wished he’d just stayed in bed. “Hi!” the loudest and most energetic person Gerard had ever met pretty much yelled at him, making him want to cover his ears. “You just moved in, right? I’m Lucas! I live just across the hall. I would’ve helped you with the boxes yesterday, but…” He gestured towards his arm, which Gerard now saw was in a cast. “Wouldn’t have been a big help.”

“Oh,” Gerard said. He was totally overwhelmed and had no clue what he was supposed to say. Introduce himself? Invite him inside? Ask about his arm? Slam the door shut and go back to bed? It was too early for this shit. He hadn’t even had any coffee yet.

“Not much of a talker, huh?” Lucas didn’t seem bothered by that at all, and happily kept talking. “Broke it in a football game a few weeks ago. Hurt like a bitch, but I’ll be fine, won’t I? Oh, what’s your name?”

“Gerard,” Gerard said mechanically. Lucas didn’t really look like he played football. He was pretty scrawny, wore glasses with a thick black rim, and his red hair and freckles reminded him of one of his few friends in high school. They’d both been outcasts.

“Rare,” he commented, making Gerard shrug. “How do you like the apartment, Gerard? I love mine. It’s pretty spacious, the layout’s great, many windows… but well, the whole murder thing must be a bummer, hm?”

For the first time since he’d started talking, Lucas caught Gerard’s attention. “Wait… the murder thing?”

“Oh! Nobody told you?” Lucas’ eyes went wide before he grinned at Gerard apologetically. “Man, I hate to be the one to tell you this… Someone was murdered in there a couple of years ago. Anyone who’s moved in only stayed for a few weeks before they couldn’t take it anymore…”

Gerard hated how Lucas’ overdramatic words made him shiver. He felt like he’d woken up in some weird, cliché horror movie, and even though he wanted to tell Lucas to stop fucking with him, he couldn’t help but ask. “Before they couldn’t take _what_ anymore?”

“Well... Do you believe in ghosts, Gerard?”

“Oh, come on.” The thing was, Gerard didn’t _not_ believe in ghosts. He had an affinity for horror movies and inexplicable phenomena and superstitions, but he wasn’t going to stand here and listen to this stranger telling him some made-up story about his new home. “My apartment’s not being haunted.”

Lucas held his hands up in a defensive manner. “Hey, I’m not trying to scare you, man. I don’t have any proof you share your apartment with a ghost… but someone was murdered there! And I wasn’t lying about people moving out after a few weeks.”

“They probably just got a better offer or whatever,” Gerard muttered. “Look, I got some stuff to do, if you don’t mind…”

“Oh, yeah, sure. You must be busy, having just moved in and all! Sorry. Well, I’ll see you around then, won’t I?”

Gerard nodded as he waved him goodbye lazily. He hoped he wouldn’t see him around. Lucas was nice but… he was a little too much for Gerard, and he didn’t know whether he should be crept out or annoyed about the whole murder shit.

He was pretty sure someone would’ve told him about that. It would be illegal to keep that from him. Right? Then again, rent was pretty cheap…

It was nothing, he decided as he drank his hot coffee. Just some weird rumor. It might be true nobody had lived here for more than a few weeks, but Gerard was convinced whatever reasons the previous tenants had had weren’t ghost-related. Also, in most of the stories and reports on people’s alleged experiences with supernatural creatures Gerard had read, they'd started hearing or seeing weird things on the very first day they moved into a haunted house, and Gerard hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary yet. And he could see why ghosts would latch onto humans as soon as possible, too. It must be super boring, just existing and existing for centuries without anyone to talk to. So Gerard was sure that if there was a ghost in here, he would've tried scaring him by now.

Besides, he had more important things to focus on today. He’d wanted to sleep in, feeling like he’d earned it, but now he might as well just start unpacking.

Gerard had finally gotten himself up, he knew if he didn’t start unpacking soon he would just keep putting it off, and frankly he just wanted to get it over with already. He got one of the boxes and opened it, it was his comic books. Thankfully his wonderful mother gave him a small bookshelf or he wouldn’t have enough space to put them anywhere. Gerard really just wanted to sit down and read them but he forced himself to put them away in the bookshelf.

While he was doing so he heard something in the kitchen that startled him a little bit, he pushed his hair behind his ear and took a deep breath as he walked towards the sound he heard. He didn’t see anything when he got there. He shook his head. “You’re just being paranoid Gerard, there are no other people or things living here. It’s just you.” he told himself a few times before going back to putting away his comics.

Once he was finished with that, he moved on to putting away his clothes in the dresser that was in the bedroom. He realized that he was unpacking all over the place but he didn’t really care. A few hours later he finished with quite a bit, he didn’t realize how different living on his own was going to be. He felt a little bit lonely if he was being honest. He was happy he was out of his parents' place though, he didn’t want to be that guy anymore, it was pretty embarrassing when he told someone he still lived with his parents.

He was thinking about calling Mikey but his brother called him before he could. “Hello, Mikes?” He said into the phone. “Hey, Gee! I was just calling you to see how everything is going. Have you actually started to unpack or have you been sleeping all day?” Mikey teased him. Gerard rolled his eyes and scoffed jokingly. “I have actually started, thank you very much. Also I’ve gotten quite a bit done.” Mikey laughed. “Well I’m very proud of you. How are you liking the new place?” his brother asked. “Honestly it’s pretty nice.” He didn’t really feel like telling him about the whole murder thing, he was going to be just fine.

After a bit of talking to him he decided to let him go, he was fucking exhausted. Going back to sleep sounded amazing. He thought it would be best to take a power nap. Gerard’s body was definitely not used to doing as much work as he did today, maybe he had to work out or even get out more. He thought to himself about it, he should... But not anytime soon. The second he rested his head on the pillow he was out like a light.

* * *

The next morning, Gerard felt surprisingly well-rested. After his power nap, he’d unpacked most of his boxes the day before and combined his brief exploration of this part of town with grocery shopping, which meant he’d pretty much finished all the things he’d wanted to finish that day. Acting like a grownup was going pretty well so far.

Roughly forty-five minutes later, Gerard left his apartment and headed for the elevator. He was in a good mood today. There was a smile on his lips that usually wasn’t to be seen before he had his second or third cup of coffee, and he felt this energy inside of him, like he was dying to get his day started. It was a little weird. He knew he was going to have a chill, borderline boring day because he would be alone for the most part of it, but somehow, he was still excited.

“Hold the door, please!”

Gerard quickly put his foot forward before the doors could close, blocking them. Only then did he realize who it was walking towards him. He suppressed a groan as Lucas entered the elevator, thinking back to how he'd totally ruined yesterday's morning.

“Thanks,” Lucas said, offering Gerard a polite nod before he focused on his phone. Gerard frowned. He wasn’t half as talkative as he’d been yesterday. Maybe he’d been a little too rude the day before? Now that Lucas wasn’t talking about ghosts or any other unsettling things, Gerard felt bad for being so unwelcoming. He watched him out of the corner of his eye, trying to come up with something to say. Then he noticed it. None of Lucas’ arms were in a cast… he must’ve gotten it removed yesterday. Which was the perfect thing to talk about.

“Must feel great, right? Using that arm again?” he asked conversationally. Man, he was on a roll today. Getting up early in a pretty good mood, not skipping his shower, and now he was making small talk. His mom would be so proud.

“Excuse me?”

Not the answer Gerard had expected, but he shrugged it off. “My brother broke his wrist a few years ago. He was so happy when he could just use it normally again. Fucking thing took months to heal.”

Lucas frowned at him and put his phone aside. “Okay? Sorry, I-”

“And I’m sorry about yesterday…” he continued with a sigh. “You just kinda woke me up and… I’m always a little grumpy before I drink my coffee. But I hope we can start fresh. You know, my brother broke his wrist just falling. One of the other kids pushed him a little too hard and he tripped. Not while playing sports. None of us are very uh, active people.”

Still looking bewildered, Lucas nodded his head. “Yeah, me- me neither, man.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be modest. You play football. That sounds pretty athletic to me.”

“What?” This time, Lucas’ voice didn’t sound polite anymore, and when Gerard turned to look at him fully, he was met with irritation. “Look, man, I don’t know what your deal is. Is that supposed to be funny? Don’t you think I know I don’t look like an athlete? Honestly, I don’t care, and just for your information, neither do you. So maybe you should work on that first before you make fun of others.”

For a couple of long moments, Gerard was too confused to reply. He gaped at Lucas until they arrived on the first floor and he hurried out of the elevator. “Wait, but- you said-”

“Yeah, fuck you too, asshole.” Lucas flipped him off before he exited the building. Gerard followed him a few seconds later.

What the fuck? Had he talked to another person with red hair, freckles and those black glasses yesterday? Did Lucas have a fucking twin brother? Because Gerard was convinced he’d just talk to the same person as yesterday. They’d looked completely alike. Their voices had been the same, too… except that this Lucas hadn’t really used his all that much, in comparison to the version of him Gerard had met yesterday, anyway.

He was so lost in his own head that he forgot to get his coffee on his way to the store, and when he unlocked the front door, he still couldn’t make sense of the whole situation. Not many people came in this morning, so he had a lot of time to replay the scene in his head over and over. When it was noon and Gerard hadn't gotten any work done, he decided to stop thinking about it - maybe it wasn't even his fault; maybe this Lucas person had just been fucking with him. Maybe one of his other neighbors looked exactly like him. Either way, Gerard would just keep his distance from now on. It was whatever. 

"Hi, Gee. Wow, you look grumpy. You okay?"

Florencia came in to start her shift at 1, buoyant and talkative as ever, and immediately, Gerard felt overwhelmed. He'd totally forgotten he was working with her that day so he hadn't been able to prepare himself. The thing was, she was kinda cute. And so confident and nice and maybe Gerard liked working with her a little too much. Gerard was always an introvert but when he was near her, he felt like the shiest person on the planet. "Yeah," he said quietly, looking at her briefly before he pretended to be busy with the paperwork in front of him. To be fair, he _should_ be busy with it. "Just... had a weird morning."

"Huh. Well luckily for you, I am here to brighten your day." 

Gerard flinched when a Starbucks coffee was placed on the piece of paper he was focused on. He blushed, having been robbed of his excuse to keep his eyes down, and found her grinning at him. "Ta-da! Since you've finally moved out of your mom's house, I figured we needed to celebrate. And I know how much you love coffee."

"Oh man, thank you..." Gerard said, not knowing whether to feel embarrassed or excited. "That's really nice of you."

"Yeah, I know. In return I expect you to invite me over and cook something nice," she retorted tongue in cheek. Gerard blushed more because he kind of wanted to do that. Even if he could only make things like pasta and frozen pizza. "Anyway, weird morning. Tell me about it. Rude customers?" 

Gerard took a sip of his coffee and almost moaned at the taste. It was something fancy he usually wouldn't go for, something with caramel. He almost wished he could just enjoy his coffee and forget about Lucas, but now he was forced to talk about him. "It was more like... a neighbor incident."

"Oh yeah? Someone complain about you for reading comic books too loudly last night?" Flor teased. 

“Very funny, Flor, but no. I’m a bit sketched out.” Gerard told her as he scratched the back of his head. She grabbed his arm and took him to the breakroom, a small blush appeared on his face. She sat down and pointed to the chair right next to her.

“Here, sit down and tell me what happened.” Flor said with a genuine smile on her face. The man was taken aback for a second by her beauty, he quickly focused once more.

“Well yesterday I got a knock on my door and it was one of my neighbors, he was very talkative. He also had a cast on his arm” He took a sip of his coffee before continuing to speak again.

“I was pretty moody when he knocked on my door because I had just woken up.” Flor had always been a good listener, she would wait for the person talking before she said anything.

“He told me that he broke it while playing football, he didn’t necessarily seem like the athletic type but I shrugged it off, but what was pretty strange was earlier he was in the elevator and I apologized for yesterday and he seemed pretty confused.” He continued to tell her the rest of the story.

She waited a second before speaking. “That’s hella weird, maybe he was intoxicated? That could be the reason he couldn’t remember anything” She inquired.

Gerard shook his head. “There’s no way, I would’ve been able to tell.” he really didn’t want to mention that Lucas had told him that there was a fucking murder that happened in his apartment. He was visibly bothered by those thoughts. She noticed and rubbed his arm reassuringly

“Hey, are you alright?” the man nodded his head, he decided to just focus on her for now, that would definitely distract him from his other thoughts.

The rest of his shift was full of Flor and Gerard flirting with each other. ‘Maybe I do have a chance with her.’ He thought to himself. He would wait a few days before inviting her over for the dinner they talked about, he didn't want to come off too strong or seem desperate even though he was a little bit. She was on his mind the entire shift.

But his shift was finally over. “Gerard, be safe. I’ll see you tomorrow alright?” Flor called out for him as he was about to go out the door. He smiled back at her in response.

“I will, see you tomorrow. Have a great rest of your day Flor” he said waving before leaving the building.

She was definitely something else.


	2. Chapter 2

When Gerard came home the next day, he felt infinitely better than the day before. He’d really done it.

During his shift with Flor, he’d almost nonchalantly mentioned how it would be so much easier for her to come over if they exchanged numbers first - and Flor had agreed immediately. Like it wasn’t a big deal at all. And Gerard now had her number. Which was fucking _surreal._

The overhead light was still on - he must have left it on earlier - but Gerard was so proud of himself and in such a good mood that it didn’t annoy him a lot. This whole Flor thing was kind of a big deal to him because’d never really dated anyone. Of course, there had been some hand stuff and a couple of unforgettable blowjobs, but he’d never seriously liked anyone. Had never gone all the way with anyone. But maybe that was about to change.

He hadn’t even really noticed it, but he’d started rubbing himself through his pants while thinking about her pretty face and all the opportunities that seemed to lie ahead now. For some reason it felt weird doing that in the middle of his fucking living room. He was very much used to having to hide in his bedroom whenever he felt in the mood - but now that had changed as well, hadn’t it? He could jerk off wherever he fucking wanted; this was his apartment.

So he sat down on the couch with a sigh, sprawling out before he unbuttoned his pants. He didn’t have his laptop and he couldn’t be bothered to get up again, so he couldn’t watch porn this time, but he reckoned it hardly mattered. There were plenty of things he could picture himself doing to Flor that had him rock hard in a matter of minutes. He wondered what she looked like naked. The fact that she never dressed in a provocative way made the whole thing so much more interesting and Gerard’s brain seemed all too happy to fill in the blanks.

He took himself out of his underwear when he pictured her kneeling in front of the couch to suck him off, squeezing his cock as he imagined she would as he gave himself a few lazy tugs. Moans threatened to spill from his throat, so he clenched his jaw trying to keep them in but a few gasps still escaped. They sounded weirdly loud in the otherwise quiet room - the quiet apartment - because he was alone, he reminded himself once more. He could make all the noises he wanted. As soon as the realization sunk in, he didn’t try to hold his grunts back as much, letting more and more tremble from his lips. It felt good to let go like that, he thought, feeling himself lose control completely.

His cock started throbbing in no time, precum easing the way as he pumped himself faster. He couldn’t feel the orgasm building up just yet but he was getting there. He wondered if Flor would get tired of sucking him eventually, whether she would want him to reciprocate, and he imagined himself eating her out. Truth be told, he’d never performed oral on a girl so he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be any good in real life, but in his fantasy he could make her cum in just a few minutes. He hoped Flor would then want to thank him, maybe climb on top of him and ride him. Gerard gasped picturing her bouncing on his lap, making pretty noises, clinging to him desperately, maybe pulling his hair a bit if he was really lucky-

He all but jumped off the couch when some knocked on his front door. The noises were so rapid and loud that Gerard’s eyes snapped open and his hand flew off his dick, thinking someone was about to walk in on him jerking off. He cursed realizing how fucking close he’d been. He’d needed another few seconds and he would’ve cum all over his knuckles. Which he was gonna do now, he decided after a second. Whatever asshole had interrupted him could go fuck themselves.

He spat in his palm and wrapped his hand around his cock again, eager to continue where he’d left off. His eyes slipped shut of their own accord and he built up a rhythm again, mouth dropping open as his thighs started shaking a little.

A moment later, it happened again. “Fuck!” he exclaimed, hearing more urgent knocks on the front door. He waited for a second, hand still on his dick and fucking praying he would just get to finish, but when the noises continued, he realized that whatever dick was standing outside wouldn’t leave until he’d talked to him.

So he guessed he didn’t have a fucking choice. His erection was pretty damn prominent in his pants when he tucked himself in and went to the door but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He’d just deal with whoever wanted to talk to him so fucking bad and then he’d make himself cum. And he’d fucking enjoy it, even if the universe seemed determined to make him suffer.

More rapid knocks accompanied his short walk to the door, making Gerard that tiny bit more frustrated, so he all but yanked the door open. The insults he’d been planning to use got stuck in his throat when he saw there was nobody there. But he’d heard the person knock like three seconds ago. What the fuck?

“Very funny, asshole,” he muttered, slamming the door shut again. It must’ve been fucking Lucas. How fucking mature of him. Gerard had even _apologized_ for what he’d said yesterday even though he still didn’t know what he’d done wrong, hadn’t he? What else did he fucking want?

He pushed Lucas out of his mind as he pushed his pants down, not bothering to go back to the couch. It took him a moment to coax himself into a full-on erection again because he was still trying to understand what had just happened and he kept seeing Lucas’ fucking face when he closed his eyes - and like, he _was_ bi, but Lucas wasn’t really his type. And Lucas was a fucking asshole. So he definitely didn’t want to think about him while jerking off.

His knees buckled when he brought himself close to the edge again. His movements were hurried now because he kept expecting someone to knock on the door any second and he wanted to be finished by then... but nobody did. He began to pant as he approached his orgasm, biting down on his lip as his body was buzzing with pleasure, imagining Flor there with him...

Then his phone started ringing. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Gerard groaned, but his voice was barely audible over the ringtone, and god, had it always been this fucking shrill and annoying? Fuck it, he thought, trying his best to ignore the obnoxious sound as he jerked himself faster. He was too close to stop now. More curses fell from his lips when the pleasure got more intense with every stroke, and then he finally reached his high, whimpering as spurts of cum painted his hand and ran down his knuckles.

The fucking phone was still ringing when he wiped it off on his shirt, feeling out of breath but grumpy and not half as satisfied as he’d expected. Irritated, he got his phone out of his jacket pocket, and of course, whoever had been calling him hung up the moment he touched it. The universe really fucking hated him.

But when his screen lit up, he could merely see his lock screen, the photo he’d taken with Mikey a few days before he’d moved. No missed calls, no missed anything. Nothing that could’ve caused the ring tone to go off. That was new.

Gerard tried not to think about it while he washed his hands. He couldn’t explain what had happened and it made him feel weirdly unsettled. Maybe it was just the universe telling him he needed to call Mikey, catch up with him, he thought as he made himself dinner a few minutes later. He hadn’t talked to him in a while. His week was pretty weird for sure, so he’d at least have something to talk about.

He felt better after calling Mikey. After a few minutes, they were both laughing about what an asshole Gerard’s new neighbor was and how much better Mikey’s company was in comparison to his. They talked about how Gerard had finally gotten Flor’s number – Mikey knew Gerard had had a crush on her for ages – and told him how awesome it was things finally seemed to work out for them. And he was right. This _was_ fucking awesome. Gerard wondered how he could have gotten in a bad mood in the first place.

“Don’t show her your figurine collection, though,” Mikey was saying, making Gerard blush.

“What do you mean? It’s my most prized possession.”

Mikey giggled. “Please just hide it. You know I’m on your side, and I wanna help you lose your virginity, you know I do. And you know I think your collection is awesome but… you know?”

“She’s into that kinda stuff…” Gerard said, throwing a thoughtful glance at his collection displayed on the shelf. “She even has this stormtrooper tattoo on her leg, so she’s totally gonna dig my Star Wars figurines.”

“Huh. Yeah, sounds like you two nerds were made for each other,” Mikey said. Gerard rolled his eyes fondly, shaking his head a little. “So when can I come over? I’m kinda offended you’re inviting the ladies over before your brother.”

So Gerard said he could come over whenever the fuck he wanted because _of course_ he could, and he told him he missed him and that living with him had been so much more fun than having his own place.

“Mom and dad miss you too,” Mikey replied with a sigh. “But since you left, mom’s been super nice to me. Didn’t even yell at me for not cleaning my room the other day and it looks _really_ bad. Like, _your_ room kinda bad. And then she had this little rant during dinner last night, about how you’ve probably trashed your entire apartment by now, so… It’s probably good you’ve moved out.”

“My apartment looks fine…” Gerard said defiantly. Of course, his mother had a point – he really needed to do the dishes and hoover the entire place, and yeah, strictly speaking, his clothes didn’t _belong_ on the floor – but this was nothing in comparison to the trash dump he’d occasionally turned his parents’ basement into.

“She wants you over for dinner, by the way. She wanted me to ask you when you’re free.”

“How about you guys come over for dinner?” Gerard suggested, shocking himself. An annoying voice reminded him that he was a shit cook and that he should really stop offering to make food for people until he could be sure he wasn’t going to poison anyone, but the urge to prove to his mother that he could be a responsible adult was too big. He’d clean the whole place and find something he could make online. Something easy so he wouldn’t set his kitchen on fire while his family was over.

Mikey chuckled again, and Gerard smirked. They both knew how chaotic this was going to be. “Yeah, okay. But I’m expecting a four-course meal.”

“Fuck you,” Gerard said with a grin. “I got Friday off. That should work for all of you, right?”

Gerard kind of regretted his decision as soon as he hung up about five minutes later. He would have to cook. For his mother. Who was like, the best cook he knew, and unfortunately, she also wasn’t afraid to speak her mind and would undoubtedly let her son know just how good whatever butchered meal Gerard would serve her was. But on the other hand, it would be a good opportunity to practice. So maybe he wouldn’t suck as much when he cooked for Flor.


	3. Chapter 3

In school, Gerard had always been an outcast. Nobody had picked on him, but nobody had really liked him either. He hadn’t really been friends with anyone but Mikey for many years and he’d been totally fine with that because he’d had his peace and could do whatever the hell he wanted.

Then, sometime during fifth or sixth grade, his mom had convinced him to throw a birthday party. Gerard hated parties, even back then. And he didn’t have any friends. But somehow his mom had talked him into it, telling him about all the delicious things she’d buy for him and his guests and all the fun things they could do together, and it all had sounded so great that he’d agreed somewhere along the line. They’d made small invites together, all handmade and shit, cut out of blue paper and with the occasion, the date and their address in his mom’s fancy handwriting on the back. Gerard had made little drawings on them, different ones for each invite, so they were unique and so fucking dear to Gerard he kind of just wanted to keep them to himself.

In retrospect, he wished he had. He’d given the invites to the few kids in his class he sort of liked, and while most of them had appreciated the invitations and even complimented Gerard’s drawings, the party had been a fucking shit show. Only half of the kids came, so it was just him, three of his classmates and Mikey. Gerard had wanted to watch Star Wars - on his _birthday,_ so he felt like he had every right to watch whatever the fuck he wanted - but one girl said she hated Star Wars and that the party was stupid and that she wanted to go home, and then the other two kids kind of just joined in, and Gerard found himself sitting on the couch with Mikey right by his side, close to tears while a bunch of kids kept whining about wanting to play some stupid game Gerard didn’t own, and sort of feeling mad at his mom because all of this had been her idea. Gerard hadn’t wanted any of this.

He kind of felt like that now too. Except now it had been his decision. He wanted to prove to his mom that he was very capable of preparing a meal for his family, and that it had been the right decision for him to live alone. He was an adult now. Fucking cooking dinner shouldn’t be a big deal.

But it kind of was, and Gerard hated that he’d put himself in a situation he just didn’t want to be in. Yet there was no way out. His family would be here in twenty minutes and the lasagna he’d been trying to make was hopelessly burnt. He’d left it on the countertop to really look at his failure. The entire apartment smelled like burnt food so Gerard had opened all the windows, letting in air that was so cold he was standing there wrapped in his coat. Fuck, this was a mess.

He hadn’t prepared for this to happen. Sure, he’d sort of expected it, but wishful thinking had somehow made him believe everything would turn out okay. The only alternative meal he could make was fucking pasta or something, which was probably what his mom was expecting him to make because she knew Gerard could make about four meals by himself (omelettes, pancakes, pasta and rice) and he knew that making that just wouldn’t be enough.

He cursed, realizing there wasn’t much he could do. There was an Italian place right across the street. Maybe he could get something fancy and pretend he’d made it all by himself? Although getting enough food for his entire family would probably cost him about fifty bucks. And he wouldn’t make it back in time, anyway...

Maybe he should just cancel. Call Mikey, tell him he needed to be somewhere else. Maybe at the comic store. Maybe there was an emergency there or something.

One thing Gerard knew for sure, though. He was not cooking for Flor tomorrow.

“I’m such an idiot.” Begrudgingly he filled a pot with water, settling for pasta. Better than nothing, right?

When someone rang the door bell a few minutes later, Gerard scowled at the burnt dish one last time before answering it. Part of him wanted to throw it in the trash, but somehow he couldn’t. Maybe he deserved his mom’s taunting words. Plus, this proved that he’d at least tried.

He closed the windows while he waited for his family to come upstairs and took off his coat, putting it on the rack carefully. At least he’d cleaned the apartment that afternoon, so this wasn’t a complete dilemma.

His mom stepped out of the elevator first. Gerard watched her from his front door, making a face when he saw she’d brought a huge bowl. Of fucking course. As if she’d ever visit anyone without bringing food.

“Don’t look at me like that, you love my salads,” she scolded him, but there was grin on her face. She pulled Gerard into a brief but tight hug, kissing his cheek, before pushing him aside gently so she could enter the apartment. “This can’t be your place! Look at how clean- did you _dust_ your _shelves?”_

“Mom,” Gerard whined, but it came out muffled because his dad hugged him next. Then Mikey gave him the longest hug yet, holding him so tight Gerard was fairly sure his ribs were about to crack, but it was all worth it. They hadn’t seen each other for only a few days, but still. He’d missed him.

“Gerard, I gotta say I’m impressed,” he heard his mom say when he and Mikey joined his parents. “I was expecting you to serve us instant meals but this actually looks like a decent lasagna!”

“I know, I know. I messed it up, I’m sorry. Can we please just eat your salad and the pasta and ignore the lasagna? I’m surprised you could even tell what it was supposed to be.”

“Don’t be humble, Gerard. I really think you did a good job with this. I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m impressed.”

Gerard frowned at his mother’s sincere tone, now looking at the lasagna for the first time again. His jaw went slack for a moment. The lasagna wasn’t burnt.

It actually looked good. Like, _really_ good, almost like something you could get at a restaurant, and for a second Gerard was so amazed by having made something that looked so delicious that he could just look at it. But he _hadn’t_ made this. He’d fucking burnt it. He knew he had because the whole place was still cold from having the windows open for so long to get the fucking stench out because he’d burnt the lasagna, left it in the oven for way too long because he’d been engrossed in a comic Flor had recommended. He’d burnt it.

So where did this perfect fucking lasagna come from?

This was so weird. A shiver ran down his spine because fuck - he had no explanation for this. He’d been noticing other weird things over the last few days, his comics ending up in places he didn’t remember putting them, boxes he was sure he’d emptied a few minutes ago were suddenly full again, lights sometimes seemed to turn on and off whenever they wanted. But Gerard hadn’t really paid attention. Things had been stressful; maybe his mind had been playing tricks on him. But this he really couldn’t explain.

He only realized he’d been staring at the lasagna for way too long when Mikey nudged his arm. Gerard turned around, vaguely hearing his parents talk about the apartment, so they hadn’t noticed anything was out of the ordinary. Mikey was looking straight at him though. Confused, with one brow raised, like he was silently telling Gerard to explain what the fuck his problem was.

Luckily they were excellent at communicating silently. Gerard threw him a look that said I’ll tell you later - if there was anything to tell him. Maybe he just needed a moment to make sense of all this.

The lasagna was delicious. He got compliments from his mom for it, which didn’t happen very often. Gerard had trouble following the conversation because he kept trying to understand how the fuck he could be eating some good, not burnt lasagna right now.

Lucas had said the apartment was haunted. Which was still hard to believe. Besides, weren’t ghosts usually mean and creepy? Didn’t they try and scare people? To be fair, Gerard was really fucking unsettled, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually believe a ghost was helping him prove he was able to make a meal for his family. And if so, it could keep going and Gerard would thank it for it.

* * *

“Okay. What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you okay?”

Their parents were barely out the door, probably still right outside, and Mikey was already bombarding him with questions. Gerard got it, though. He could see Mikey was worried about him.

“Mom praised you so fucking much. Dad looked so proud. And even when I mentioned Flor you wouldn’t say more than three words - what the fuck, Gee?”

“Sorry,” Gerard mumbled. Honestly, he was kind of glad Mikey was staying over, because even after mulling it over for two hours, he still couldn’t explain what had happened. He didn’t think it was a ghost, but maybe he was going crazy, and he really didn’t want to be alone for that.

“Don’t apologize. Tell me what’s up!” Mikey demanded. “Did Flor cancel your date? Did you get fired?”

Gerard shook his head. “No...”

“Then what the hell is it, Gee?”

“Look, I don’t know,” Gerard sighed, sitting down on the couch heavily. He felt exhausted, and Mikey’s urgent eyes on him really weren’t helping him feel calmer. “I think there’s something wrong with... my apartment.”

“As in- what? Your heater doesn’t work?” Mikey sat down next to him and looked around the room. “Everything seems fine to me.”

“As in...” Gerard began, earning an annoyed sigh when he paused. It just was so absurd. “As in maybe someone else is here.”

Mikey frowned. “What? You mean, besides the two of us? Like a hobo? Look, your apartment’s tiny. I’m pretty sure we would-”

“Like a ghost,” Gerard said. Mikey shut up instantly. “I know. I know this is crazy. But like, some weird shit’s been going on here. And my neighbor told me the apartment was haunted. And of course I thought he was just fucking with me. But...”

“But maybe he was telling the truth?”

“Yeah?” Gerard said, but it came out as a question. To his surprise, Mikey wasn’t laughing at him. He looked amused, but not in a way that would suggest he thought Gerard was going crazy. More like he believed him and was dying to hear more about the ghost. So Gerard told him about the lasagna miracle, the weird knocks on his door, how things disappeared and turned up in strange places, and all the other things he’d been trying not to think about too much. The only thing he left out was how something always happened when he was trying to jerk off. He hadn’t had one satisfying orgasm the whole week because either his phone would start ringing or the room would suddenly smell like something was rotting in it. Once he’d heard a woman call for help but hadn’t been able to find out where it had come from. Once the fire alarm had gone off, but when he was out in the hallway, out of breath from pulling his pants up and running out of the apartment when he’d been about ten seconds away from cumming, everything had been quiet again. He still told Mikey about all those things, just... minus the _I was trying to jerk off_ part.

Mikey was quiet for a moment when Gerard finally finished speaking. He felt dizzy, just now realizing _how_ much shit he’d been experiencing. Fuck. Either he was having the worst fucking week ever or something was really haunting him.

“This,” Mikey said then, eyes glowing. “Sounds _awesome._ Gee! There might be a fucking ghost with us right now! Hello? Can you hear me?”

They were both quiet for a few seconds, holding their breath. Gerard felt like something could actually happen. He didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved when everything stayed quiet.

“Have you ever heard their voice?” Mikey asked. “Like, have they ever contacted you directly?”

“I don’t think so?” Gerard said thoughtfully. Part of him wanted to laugh out loud because this whole conversation was so ridiculous - but at the same time, he was so, so glad he’d finally opened up to Mikey and could talk to him freely. “Maybe it doesn’t have a voice.”

“Don’t call them _it,_ Gerard, they’re a person!” Mikey corrected him, sounding serious. “Hey, would you like us to refer to you as he, she or they?”

Again, nothing happened. Gerard hadn’t really expected it this time. “Okay, so maybe _they_ don’t have a voice.”

“Maybe,” Mikey pondered. “Or maybe they’re just not ready to talk to you. We should keep our eyes peeled.”

“Mikey, do you think they’re dangerous?” Gerard felt cold all of a sudden. If there was really a ghost here - and right now, they were acting as though that totally was a valid option - he was dealing with a fucking _ghost._ Which was cool but... what if it was evil? 

“You just told me they knocked on your door and helped you make some awesome lasagna,” Mikey declared. “Doesn’t sound dangerous to me.”

“Yeah but- fuck, what if they poisoned the lasagna?” Gerard gasped, feeling panicked. “What if-”

“They’re not dangerous,” Mikey repeated determinedly. “If they were, you’d probably be dead by now. Why would they wait a whole week?”

“Maybe they like to play with their prey. Like a cat.”

Mikey shook his head. “I don’t think so. They’re probably just bored. Mr. or Mrs. Ghost, are you bored? Do you wanna play Super Mario Bros or something?”

Mikey tried to talk to the ghost a few more times, but he never got a reaction. It was probably just a bunch of coincidences, Gerard thought as he watched his brother make wide eyes at the empty room, always expecting something to happen. There couldn’t really be a ghost here. He put on a movie after a couple of minutes, wanting to take the focus off the whole ghost thing. But it didn’t seem like Mikey was done talking about it. “Fuck, I hope they’ll do something tonight while I’m here. That would be so cool. But they don’t do something every day, right?”

“I... I don’t know, maybe. It doesn’t happen all the time. Just sometimes.”

“Huh,” Mikey said. “Hey, Mr. or Mrs. Ghost? Can you please do something cool for me later? I’ve never met a ghost before and you seem really nice.”

“Do you want chips?” Gerard asked, already getting up. This whole situation was so weird and made him feel a little uneasy. Mikey nodded without looking at Gerard.

“Like, don’t do anything super annoying,” he said while Gerard walked into the kitchen to get some snacks. “And like, don’t kill Gee or me. Just, I don’t know, knock on the door again or something. Please?”

The moment Gerard got the bag of chips out of the cupboard, it exploded. He gasped in shock, feeling his heart skip a beat at the sudden loud noise as he stumbled back and collided with the fridge. What the fuck?

“What the fuck?” Mikey’s footsteps came closer quickly. Gerard still couldn’t move when he entered the kitchen and an excited grin appeared on his face when he saw Gerard was alive and well. “What happened?”

“It- it just exploded,” Gerard explained weakly. The whole floor and the inside of the cupboard were practically covered in chips. “I wanted to get the bag out of the cupboard and it just...”

“Fuck yeah! Thank you, Mr. or Mrs. Ghost!” Mikey told the ceiling happily. Then he looked at Gerard eagerly. “Okay, here’s what’s gonna happen. We’re buying a Ouija board tomorrow. And we’re gonna try and contact them properly. At night, with candles and shit.”

“But... my date with Flor-”

“Oh, yeah! She can come too,” Mikey said. “We need someone to write down their answers.”

Gerard opened his mouth to protest but closed it again. He’d wanted to have a chill evening with her. Order takeout since he obviously wasn’t going to cook again, then watch a movie and... whatever was gonna happen after that. But he knew there was no way Mikey would just go home tomorrow after all this.

“Come on, this is gonna be so cool!” Mikey said as if having read Gerard’s mind. “It’s gonna be a lot more exciting than whatever awkward date you had in mind.”

And yeah, Gerard really couldn’t argue with that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Things get spooky!

Gerard flinched when he opened the door - and regretted it a moment later when Flor started cackling at him. For a second, he’d thought the weird grimace was a ghost, but it was just his crush with the flashlight of her phone under her chin. Gerard was really on edge and the hallway was pretty fucking dark, cut him some slack. Flor turned it off and put her phone in her pocket, still grinning widely. “Bit tense, are we?”

“Maybe a little...” Gerard admitted. He was sure his face was bright red.

“May I come in?”

Again Gerard felt himself blush. God, why did he always turn into such an awkward mess when she was around? “Yeah. Yeah, of course.”

At least she seemed excited for this, he thought. Then again, she didn’t really know what she was in for. Talking about it all had been weird on the phone, so Gerard hadn’t really given her many details, just that his brother Mikey would also be there and that they were planning on using a Ouija board that Mikey had bought... a while ago. Six hours, to be exact, but Flor didn’t know that. Gerard had also told her that his apartment was supposedly haunted.

“Hi, Mikey. Good to see you!”

Gerard was glad Flor and Mikey already knew each other. They weren’t really friends, but Mikey visited Gerard at the store so regularly that running into Flor was sort of inevitable. Mikey was awfully comfortable around her, like her beauty didn’t distract him at all, and Gerard was kind of really jealous.

“Hey,” he said easily, wiggling his brows at her. They’d already prepared everything a few minutes ago - pushed the couch back a bit, placed the coffee table by the wall, creating a fairly big space in the center of the living room. Which was where Mikey was already sitting with the board in front of him and an eager expression on his face. There were a couple of candles around him and on the furniture nearby, as well as some snacks on the coffee table - this time none of the bags had exploded, thankfully - and a few pieces of paper and pens right next to him so they could write down the ghost’s answers. If there were any, of course. “Ready to speak to a dead person?”

“Hell yeah,” Flor replied. Gerard frowned - how was everyone so excited about this? It was as if nobody but him realized this could go wrong. So very wrong. It also bothered him a little that Flor didn’t seem sad that Mikey was here for their date and that it wasn’t really a date at all. “So, do any of you really know what to do?”

“Uh. Kinda? Not really. I’ve seen a bunch of movies but who hasn’t?”

“What about you, Gee?”

“Huh? Oh no, not really.”

Flor laughed. “Well, aren’t you two prepared for this. You’re lucky to have me because I did some research on my way here. I found a website that explains everything step-by-step. So if we follow it, we should be okay.”

“Sounds like we _are_ lucky to have you,” Mikey joked.

“I’ll light the candles, yeah?” Gerard said. Flor nodded and sat down on the floor next to Mikey with her back against the couch.

“So this says it’s better to have more than one person do it. And it should be males and females mixed. Check,” she read while Gerard went around the room to light all the candles. “Use the board at night. Check. Oh, create some atmosphere! Check.” She grinned at Gerard who blushed and turned away. He could almost feel Mikey rolling his eyes at him.

“What else?” Mikey asked.

“Decide on a medium. It says everyone in the room can ask questions, but only one of us should ask questions of the board directly. Gerard, do you wanna be the medium?”

“Me? Uh... Maybe Mikey can do that better than me.”

“But it’s your ghost,” Flor remarked with a giggle. “Don’t you wanna like, connect with it on a deeper level?”

“With _them_ ,” Mikey corrected her while Gerard shrugged and shook his head.

“Okay then,” Flor grinned at Gerard when all the candles were lit. “Turn off the light and come sit down! I’m so excited. You guys think this will really work?”

Gerard did as he was told. When the light was off, he took a moment to just breathe. The room looked so creepy with all the tiny candles as the only sources of light. Shadows were constantly moving and distorted. And the fucking _board._ The energy in the room was eerie. Gerard couldn’t help but feel like this had been a bad idea.

“Yeah, I think so. This place is definitely haunted.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh right, Gee didn’t tell you! Fuck, you gotta hear this.”

Gerard knelt down across from Mikey so the board was in between them as Mikey told Flor what he’d told him yesterday. Gerard kept glancing at her, watching her face change as she learned there was like, actual evidence a ghost might be in the apartment.

“Holy shit,” she all but whispered when Mikey was done. “That’s crazy! You didn’t tell me any of that!”

“I- Sorry. It would’ve been weird over the phone,” Gerard explained.

“Oh my god, that- that neighbor of yours you told me about. The football player or whatever. Do you think the ghost did that to him? Maybe they... they made him forget he’d met you before!”

Gerard could just gape at her for a moment. He hadn’t considered that. “I... I don’t know. Oh fuck. You think that could be possible?” He looked at Mikey for help, somehow needing him to say that no, of course that wasn’t possible because ghosts weren’t real, but Mikey just shrugged.

“Yeah, why not? Maybe they controlled his mind and made him come over and talk to you about that shit and then they made him forget it happened.”

Gerard swallowed hard. He wasn’t ready to deal with a ghost who could control the people around him.

Flor didn’t look like that possibility bothered her at all. “Okay, I am so psyched. Let’s get this started.”

“Are there any more instructions on that website you found?” Mikey asked.

“Oh! Yeah, totally forgot about that. Hold on.” She unlocked her phone and scrolled down. “Well, it says you need to warm up the planchette. Like, move it around in a circle before you start. Oh, and start with simple yes or no questions. Give the board some time to warm up. Be polite. Don’t ask for any physical signs. And don’t forget to close the board when you’re done, so you’ll have to slide the planchette to goodbye when you wanna stop.”

“Okay. Anything else?” Mikey asked, rubbing his palms together in anticipation.

Flor shook her head. “Nothing important. It just says to play sober and don’t take the board too seriously and that kinda stuff.”

Mikey hummed, leaning forward. “Alright. You ready, Gee?”

“I guess?” Gerard shrugged. His heart was beating like crazy. How the hell had he ended up here?

“Okay. Let’s do this.”

Gerard’s hand was shaking when he followed Mikey’s lead and placed two fingers of both of his hands on the planchette and they started moving it around. Oh god. They were really doing this.

Flor lay down on her front so she could write on the pieces of paper, wiggling the pen around as she looked at the brothers expectantly.

“Okay,” Mikey said again. “Um. Hello? I’m Mikey and this is my brother Gerard and his friend Flor. I know you already showed yourself yesterday but I hope you’re not tired of us yet because we’d really like to talk to you. Are you there? Can you hear me?”

“Ask them if they wanna come hang out at the comic store some time,” Flor whispered but Mikey shushed her giggles.

“What you did last night was pretty impressive. And your lasagna was super good. Thanks for that, by the way. Can you talk to us tonight, please?”

Nothing. Gerard was so tense - after yesterday, he was convinced that whatever spirit was in the apartment would talk to them tonight. He still didn’t know if that would be a good thing - but he was a little excited too. Just a little.

“I don’t think it’s working,” he said, but it came out all croaky.

“Give it more time,” Flor replied. She put a calming hand on Gerard’s knee that made him so much more nervous.

“Hello?” Mikey asked again. When Gerard looked at him, his face was so intense it was almost scary. He was so into this. Holy shit. Should Gerard be saying prayers in his head or something? What if the ghost possessed Mikey? Oh god, this was horrible. “If you can hear me, please talk to me. Are you there?”

Nothing. Gerard huffed. “Maybe we-”

His hands moved with a jolt. He heard Flor gasp, and when he met Mikey’s eyes, the ‘Are you fucking with me?’ got stuck in his throat. Mikey looked just as shocked as he felt.

When he looked down, slow because he didn’t really know if he wanted to see what had happened, the planchette had landed on _Yes._

“What the fuck,” Flor whispered and Gerard whole-heartedly agreed.

“Um.” It took Mikey a moment to keep speaking. “Hello. Thank you for, uh, talking to us. Can you tell me your name?”

This time it happened immediately. Gerard held his breath when he felt another jolt and his fingers followed the planchette over the board, like they were glued to it. He doubted he’d be able to remove them even if he wanted to.

“No,” Flor read, then wrote it down with a frown. “Why not?”

“Why not?” Mikey repeated.

The planchette slid across the board more than once this time, spelling out words Gerard’s fuzzy brain couldn’t really make out. He saw some E’s and an L, a Y, an S...

“Tell me a secret first,” Flor read out. Gerard looked at the piece of paper disbelievingly. “What the hell?”

“One each?” Gerard asked.

Mikey repeated the question and the planchette landed on _Yes._ They shared uneasy looks. “Okay. Well... I’m sleeping with my best friend,” Flor said, as if she didn’t care. Gerard’s heart hammered against his chest. She was what? “Not a big deal,” Flor continued after a moment. “We’ve known each other for like seven years. She’s my everything. We just don’t tell a lot of people because... her parents would freak out.”

“I sometimes sleep in Gee’s old room because I’m sad he moved out and I miss him,” Mikey continued. Flor _awwwed_ at him and Gerard would’ve hugged him if the circumstances were different.

“I’m a virgin,” Gerard said quickly. It wasn’t as embarrassing as admitting to having jerked off thinking about Flor and he couldn’t think of anything else. Besides, he kind of felt like he needed to tell her sooner or later anyway - if things between them worked out.

Nobody said anything for a few tense moments. Gerard was relieved Flor didn’t tease him about it.

“Alright, Mr. or Mrs. Ghost. Can you tell us your name now?” Mikey asked then.

Flor made an excited noise when the planchette started moving again. “F-R-A-N-K. Huh. Frank. Well, that’s a boring ass name.”

“Flor,” Gerard gasped, shaking his head at her. How could she make fun of the ghost’s name? How was anyone actually just accepting they were talking to a ghost right now?

“What? That’s not mean. Just my opinion.”

“Hello, Frank. It’s, uh, good to meet you,” Mikey said, forcing a straight face. “Can you tell us how, uh, how you died?”

“Mikey, that’s _personal,”_ Gerard hissed, but he shut his mouth when the planchette started moving. _M-U-R-D-E-R_. He’d technically already known that but actually seeing it spelled out somehow made it real.

“Of fucking course,” Flor mumbled. “Because talking to a person who died of natural causes would’ve been lame, right?”

The hairs on the back of Gerard’s neck stood up when he felt a cold draft go through the room. Some of the candles went out, leaving the three of them speechless for a moment. “Oh shit,” Mikey said quietly.

“Maybe you- you should apologize, Flor,” Gerard whimpered.

“I- yeah. Okay. I’m sorry, Frank. It’s totally a cool name,” she said, sounding a little worried for the first time.

“We don’t- we don’t mean to be disrespectful, Frank. Sorry. Um... let’s talk about something more light-hearted, maybe...”

“Ask him how long he’s lived here?” Flor suggested. “Or well, not lived, but... _been_ here.”

“How long have you been in this apartment, Frank?” Mikey asked hesitantly. Gerard was secretly pleased they’d finally stopped acting like this was just a normal Saturday night activity. “When did you die? Can you tell us, please?”

This time the planchette slid down to the numbers. _1-9-6._ “1996,” Gerard said.

“Holy shit! This dude’s been dead for almost 25 years!”

 _“Flor,”_ Gerard whined again. He really wished she wouldn’t say everything that came to her mind.

“Like, he probably doesn’t know what Google is. And he thinks Apple is just a fruit. And- wow, he doesn’t even know about 9/11. Didn’t Kurt Cobain also die in 1996?”

“‘94,”Gerard said quietly.

“Oh. Either way he at least knows what Nirvana is, huh? I-”

The ghost - Frank - interrupted her. A gasp escaped Gerard’s lips when the planchette started moving once again, and this time he really hadn’t expected it. Nobody had asked a question, Mikey hadn’t even said anything. He must be mad. Fuck, they’d enraged a fucking ghost.

Abruptly, the planchette stopped on the letter W. Gerard hadn’t even been trying to read what he’d been spelling out. Luckily Flor had been writing the letters down. “Kurt is here with us right now.”

“What the fuck? Seriously?” said Mikey.

Gerard was ready for the planchette to move this time. _No._

He didn’t know whether to laugh or not. Was Frank fucking with them? Was he seriously joking around right now?

The other two didn’t really know what to make of the answer either. Flor let out a breathless laugh.

“We’re uh, sorry if we made you mad,” Mikey said after a moment. “We didn’t mean to.”

Flor nodded. “Yeah, sorry.”

“Maybe we should stop for tonight,” Gerard whispered. “We can try again some other time.”

“But I got so many questions!” Flor protested. “Let’s keep going. I promise I’ll stop saying dumb shit.”

Mikey looked at Gerard before he nodded. “Okay. Frank, is it okay if we keep talking to you for a bit?”

 _Yes._ Gerard sighed in relief. He really didn’t want the ghost haunting his place out for his blood.

“Okay,” Mikey said. “Flor, what do you-”

He was cut off when the planchette started moving again, spelling out words this time.

“I want Gerard to apologize too,” Flor read with a frown.

“Gerard didn’t even say anything wrong, though.”

Gerard shook his head. “I’m- I’m sorry, Frank. I’m not sure what I did but I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to make you mad.”

They waited for a minute, anticipating Frank to say more, but nothing happened. Gerard only realized he’d been holding his breath when he started feeling dizzy.

“Alright, so... Ask him if this is the first time people are trying to talk to him,” Flor said then, shifting around uneasily.

Mikey repeated the question after a moment. The planchette landed on _Yes._

“Okay. Even more pressure, huh?” Flor said.

“Or not. He’s probably desperate for some human contact,” Mikey said thoughtfully. “I mean, I would be.”

“Can you ask him about the other people who’ve lived here? Lucas said... well not really Lucas, I guess. But he said nobody stayed here very long. Did Frank really scare them away?” Gerard asked. His voice shook a bit.

Again, Mikey repeated the question and the planchette vibrated a little but stayed on _Yes._ “Alright. Are you trying to get Gee out of the apartment too?”

 _No._ Gerard gulped. Was that good? It didn’t feel like it.

Mikey glanced at him before focusing on the board again. “Why not?”

Gerard wasn’t sure he wanted to know but the planchette moved down to the letters once again. When it stopped, Flor’s face was both amused and weirded out. “I like to watch him? Wow, perv alert!”

“Flor, come on, you promised-”

“You were thinking the same thing, admit it. Frank basically just told us he likes watching you undress and stuff! Do you walk around naked a lot?”

For the first time, Gerard was glad the room was almost completely dark because like this, Flor couldn’t see how furiously he was blushing once again. “No,” he said emphatically. “I don’t think he meant it like that. Maybe he just... likes me.”

Flor grinned. “Maybe. Or maybe he hasn’t gotten laid since last century and is horny all the damn time.”

“He’s a ghost.”

“So? Who says ghosts don’t get horny?”

Gerard felt like he didn’t really need to explain why that wasn’t possible. “Because he’s dead. Dead people don’t get horny.”

“Do dead people talk?” Flor asked, raising a brow at him challengingly.

“Well. No,” Gerard admitted. “But-”

“See?” Flor looked smug all of a sudden. “Maybe they get horny too. Who the fuck knows?”

“Can we please stop talking about my brother making people horny?” Mikey moaned.

“Sorry,” Flor grinned. “Why don’t we ask him?”

“We’re not asking Frank that!” Gerard intervened before Mikey could respond. “Also, he’s probably not even gay.”

“Why don’t we-”

Gerard shook his head determinedly. “We’re not asking him that either.”

He shrieked when the planchette started moving again, almost having forgotten he was touching it still. It slid over the board slower this time and Gerard’s eyes followed it easily. _You’re amusing._

“Is he being serious?” Mikey asked, brows raised.

Flor nodded. “I think so! Man, I never thought hanging out with a ghost would be that much fun. I like you, Frank! We should drop by more often.”

“No,” Gerard said, surprising himself with how serious he sounded. It felt like nobody got Frank except him. _You’re amusing_ wasn’t a compliment - it was more like a threat. Like, _Have fun while you can. I dare you._ Gerard hated it. “We need- we need to show Frank some respect, okay? Fuck, I don’t want him to haunt me forever. Can we just go back to being polite? Please?”

“Gee, it’s okay. I think Flor is right. He’s probably just glad he’s got some company.”

“Guys, I really don't think so,” Gerard stated. “He’s gonna make us pay for this.”

“For what? Asking some fun questions? I don’t-” This time Flor made a shocked noise when the planchette moved again. Gerard bit down on his bottom lip, watching it spell the words out with an uneasy feeling in his stomach. _Stop fighting or I will make you pay._ Gerard gulped.

“Sorry,” he said quickly, looking around the room as though hoping to spot Frank somewhere. “We’re sorry. No more fighting, got it. Sorry.”

Again the planchette slid about the board. _Good boy._ Gerard’s throat felt dry. Maybe Flor had been right? _Good boy_ wasn’t really sexual but it was enough to make Gerard uncomfortable on a whole new level. His brother was right there.

“Can you tell us what you can do, Frank?” Mikey asked, seemingly not noticing anything weird. “I know we’re not supposed to ask for physical signs but... maybe you can tell us?”

The planchette landed on _No._ Gerard felt almost disappointed. Then it kept moving - _That wouldn’t be any fun._

Something clattered to the floor loudly. Gerard’s hands flew off the planchette as he spun around, and he had about two milliseconds to realize his figurine collection must have fallen off the shelf before the overhead light was turned on and Gerard had to close his eyes at the sudden impossibly bright light. Then someone touched his face. There was a fucking hand on his cheek, so fucking cold, making Gerard freeze with his eyes pressed shut. The thumb moved over his nose and towards his lips, brushing over his bottom lip gently before wandering further down. For a second, Gerard was certain Frank was gonna choke him. Wrap his cold ghost hand around his throat and squeeze until he couldn’t breathe. But then the hand disappeared altogether, leaving behind this awful feeling that made Gerard’s stomach feel funny.

Then the light was turned off again, mere seconds after it had been turned on but it had felt like an eternity to Gerard. He slowly opened his eyes, feeling like his heart was about to explode it was beating so fast. The entire room was dark now - all the remaining candles had gone out.

“He- he touched me,” Gerard said, still breathless.

“I heard him laugh,” said Flor. She was so close but Gerard couldn’t see her at all. “Did you hear him laugh?”

“No,” Gerard and Mikey said. Then Mikey added, “I think he pinched me, though. My arm stings.”

“Holy shit. Guys, seriously. Please tell me if one of you is doing this. This is crazy.”

“We’re not doing anything, Flor,” Mikey said sincerely. “This is real. Frank’s real.”

“Holy shit,” she said again.

They were quiet for a moment. All of them were breathing fast, still on edge and anticipating Frank to do something else. Nothing happened, but Gerard couldn’t relax.

“Hey, so... should we turn the light on?” Mikey said after what could have been thirty seconds or ten minutes. Gerard really couldn’t tell.

“I don’t think I can get up,” Gerard admitted.

“Me neither.”

“I got my phone right here,” Flor said quietly. “Lemme turn on the flashlight.”

“Yeah, okay.”

Gerard turned away so he wouldn’t accidentally look directly into the light. When Flor’s phone illuminated the room, he found himself looking at the sofa. The sofa that should’ve been empty because the three of them were sitting on the floor. Yet he was looking at a pair of jeans-clad legs, and he followed them up to find a torso dressed in a T-shirt, and when his eyes trailed even higher, he saw a huge grin and two gleaming eyes that were looking straight back at him.

He screamed. He couldn’t fucking help it; he was looking at a fucking ghost, but when Flor joined in, startled by the sudden loud noise, the sofa was empty once again. Gerard couldn’t stop staring at it. He’d fucking looked straight at him. He’d seen his eyes. He hadn’t imagined this.

“Gee? Gee, what is it?” Mikey’s voice was urgent and borderline panicked. Gerard flinched when he reached out to touch his wrist. “What happened?”

“He was on the sofa. He was sitting there. I saw him,” Gerard explained. Flor, who was closest to the couch, jumped to her feet. “He was on the fucking sofa.”

“You saw him?” Mikey asked.

“Yeah. He- He was looking at me.” Gerard shivered, shaking his head as if to blur the memory. Holy fucking shit. “Oh god. Let’s- let’s close the board, yeah? No more. I can’t-”

“Yeah, okay. This is enough,” Mikey agreed. He put his fingers on the planchette again and waited for Gerard to do the same before sliding it to goodbye and leaving it there. “We’ll talk to you later, Frank. Um, thanks. For talking to us.”

Gerard let go of the wooden object immediately and held his hands close to his chest as if trying to protect them. His heart was still going a hundred miles per hour.

“Can someone please turn on the light?” Gerard whimpered. “I just. I need a minute.”

“I’ll do it,” Flor said after a second. Gerard had never admired her more when she bravely walked over to the switch. Everything was oddly quiet when the room was illuminated brightly once again. Gerard took a cautious look around. This time, there weren't any ghosts to be seen.

“Uh... Flor, did you write this?” Mikey said. Gerard didn’t have the nerve to check what he was talking about. He kind of just wanted to move to another country and forget this ever happened.

“Yeah, of course. Don’t you remember? You told me to-”

“No, I know. That’s not what I meant,” Mikey interrupted her. Something in his tone made Gerard snap out of it. He forced himself to focus on the piece of paper on the ground, and at first he couldn’t tell what Mikey was talking about. But then he saw it.

Someone had scribbled down _F+G_ in the bottom corner. The handwriting didn’t really look like the one the rest of the paper was covered in.

“F plus G...” Flor read when she came back. “No. I didn’t write that.”

“Are you telling me we’re looking at something a ghost wrote?” Mikey asked.

“I... I didn’t write it. I swear,” Flor said. “Oh god, this is so creepy. My heart’s beating so fast.”

“But why would he write that?” Gerard asked timidly. “Flor plus Gerard?”

Maybe he knew about his crush. Oh god. If he’d been watching him, he _definitely_ knew about his crush. All those phone calls with Mikey... And Gerard talked to himself a lot. Frank probably knew everything about him, fuck.

“Well, or Frank plus Gerard. Makes more sense,” Flor said thoughtfully. Gerard’s heart shattered a bit. “You know what, I really don’t think I can sleep on the couch tonight, Gee. If he’s been sitting on it...”

“Me neither,” Mikey said apologetically. “I don’t think I can sleep at all, to be honest.”

“How big’s your bed, Gee? Can we all sleep in there?”

“Oh. It’s... it’s pretty big. Maybe,” Gerard said awkwardly. He figured he should be excited about sharing a bed with Flor, even if Mikey would be there with them. But tonight, he was just thankful he wouldn’t have to sleep all by himself.

Gerard ended up in the middle of the bed with Mikey on his right and Flor on his left. It wasn’t very comfortable - there wasn’t much space and Gerard tried not to get too close to Flor, which resulted in him lying almost on top of Mikey and Mikey pushing him off - but it was perfect. He was pretty much sandwiched between them. It made him feel safe even though he knew it wouldn’t stop Frank if he wanted to fuck some more with them.

“I can’t believe this really happened,” Flor said for the sixth time. Gerard could feel her breath against his shoulder. He kind of wanted to wrap his arm around her, for even more protection and stuff, but he didn’t want to make things weird. “A ghost. Fucking talked to us. And then we saw him. _A ghost.”_

“It was really awesome until he scared the shit out of us,” Mikey said. Now that some time had passed, he’d calmed down a little. Gerard hadn’t.

“You asked him to show us what he could do,” Gerard remarked. “We practically dared him to do all that.”

“Show-off,” Flor mumbled.

“I asked him to _tell_ us what he could do. And I didn’t want him to do anything like that.”

“I mean... in retrospect, it was kinda cool,” Flor sighed. “Like, say we don’t get killed tonight and everything’s fine tomorrow morning. This was one hell of a night, wasn’t it? I mean we _talked_ to a _ghost!_ This is awesome!”

“Do you think I should move out?” Gerard asked. The thought had been gnawing at him for a while. He couldn’t seriously just keep living here, right? What sane person would do that?

“Fuck no,” said Flor.

“Maybe?” Mikey said. “I mean, I still don’t think he’d hurt you. He was probably just having some fun. So I wouldn’t move. This is definitely the most awesome roommate you can get.”

“Hm. I don’t know.” Mikey was right - he hadn’t hurt them. He’d just scared them really fucking bad. “I’ll... I’ll need to think about it.”

“I’d stay here and become friends with him,” Flor said. “There are still so many things I wanna ask him. And you could like write, a book about this! _My Best Friend the Ghost._ Or _Living With Ghosts_! People would so buy that.”

Gerard shook his head, bumping into Mikey. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. He was so mad today...”

“He was just having fun,” Flor argued. “You said he was grinning at you, right? He was having the time of his life! Or his- his afterlife. Whatever.”

Mikey snorted. 

“What did he look like?” Flor asked then, scooting a little closer.

“I don’t- I don’t know. I only saw him for like a second.”

“Old?”

“No. Pretty young, I think.”

“Oh, so he’s a child?” Mikey asked.

“No, not that young. Maybe around your age, Mikey. I don’t know.”

Flor hummed. “Okay. So he was like what, twenty-two? Oh, was he like, solid? Could you tell he was a ghost?”

“No, I...” Gerard tried to remember. It had happened so fast, and it had scared the fuck out of him, so the memory was all fucked up. He did remember looking at his legs first, though. And he remembered thinking they looked like regular legs. Just like a person was sitting on the couch. “I think he looked solid. He wasn’t see-through or anything.”

“That’s so cool. Man, I wish I’d seen him,” Flor sighed. Gerard doubted it.

When he drifted off into an uneasy sleep, he saw Frank’s grin over and over. Then he dreamt Frank disappeared and the sofa was empty, and then the whole room was empty, and Gerard was all alone in a massive building that was about to collapse and all he could do was call Frank for help because he was suddenly tied to a chair. Frank was singing _Smells Like Teen Spirit_ when he came to the rescue and carried Gerard out of the building bridal style. Then Mikey asked him why he wasn’t making out with Flor. Then he was making out with Frank. Then his mom was yelling at him because he’d been kissing ghosts instead of making dinner and she was sick of always having to take care of him. Then Gerard woke up and stared at the dark ceiling, praying for morning to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Everything seemed fucking absurd the next morning. Gerard parkoured out of bed at 7:30 when he had to use the bathroom and then decided to make coffee instead. He hadn’t slept very well - and he doubted he could get any more sleep now because Mikey occupied pretty much his entire bed - so he really needed the caffeine. 

Making himself sit down on the couch after last night was kind of a big challenge. Eventually, Gerard just closed his eyes and let gravity do the work after spending about half an hour telling himself it would be okay, that the couch wasn’t cursed just because Frank had sat on it, and surprisingly, he wasn’t dragged down to hell the moment his butt slumped down on the worn-out material. It was fine. 

When Flor got up, she was in a bit of a hurry. She declined the cup of coffee Gerard offered her (so Gerard happily drank it himself) because she had a brunch date with her friend. Yes, _that_ friend, she explained with a playful roll of her eyes, and Gerard had barely a minute to thank her for coming over and throw her a quick _See you tomorrow_ before she was out of the door. She had told him to keep her posted about anything Frank-related though, so... Gerard hoped they hadn’t weirded her out too much last night and that he still had a chance with her. 

Mikey didn’t roll out of bed until 1 in the afternoon, and Gerard would’ve been kind of worried Frank had killed him in his sleep if he hadn’t been forced to listen to his snores for hour after hour. 

In typical Mikey fashion, he purged Gerard’s fridge as soon as he was done and wolved down almost as much coffee as Gerard as they watched some sci-fi movie they’d both seen about twenty times. Not horror today because - yeah. Gerard didn’t really need that right now. 

“So, about Flor,” Mikey said while Gerard got up to make some more coffee. He turned around immediately, feeling his face heat up. “Um. I’m sorry to tell you this but I’m pretty sure she’s gay.”

“Well, but- you-” Gerard sat down again, ignoring Mikey’s frustrated huff because now he would have to wait even longer for more coffee, and took a deep breath. “I know she said she sleeps with her best friend. But like, they’re just _friends_. And maybe she’s bi. Like me.”

Mikey didn’t look convinced. He gave up trying to kick Gerard off the couch when he wouldn’t budge, accepting they would have to talk about this before he got a refill. “Maybe. But did you see her face whenever she mentioned that girl? That isn’t just friendship, Gee. Sorry.”

“But...” He had a point. That didn’t mean Gerard was giving up just yet. “She... she wanted to see me too, right? Maybe she’s looking for... something different?”

Mikey shrugged. “It didn’t really feel like that to me. But maybe. I don’t know. Now can you make some more coffee?”

Flor had mentioned her best friend before, Gerard remembered when he finally surrendered and filled the carafe with water. She’d even mentioned her name, but Gerard hadn’t been paying enough attention to remember it now. She might’ve also dropped by the store a few times... If Gerard was thinking of the right person, Flor’s friend was a short, black-haired girl with round glasses, fun shirts, an affinity for Spiderman, and Flor’s undivided attention whenever she came in.

If Mikey was right, Gerard was really fucking blind. 

He watched movies with Mikey until he felt too bad for keeping him from doing his homework and drove him to their parents’ house. After dropping him off, he chose a different route back home. Because he was still trying to see some more of that part of town, _not_ because the new route was longer and would keep him out of the creepy ghost apartment for a few more valuable minutes. 

Eventually, it got ridiculous and he had to head home. His heart was beating like crazy when he unlocked his front door. Frank could have completely demolished his place while he was gone. Or he could be waiting right by the door, eager to scare the shit out of him yet again as soon as he came back. 

He almost wished that would’ve been the case when he saw everything was perfectly, eerily quiet. Their two coffee mugs were still in the sink; the old, baggy clothes Gerard had lent Mikey as pajamas were still on the floor where Mikey had decided to leave them. Even the Ouija board was still in the same place. Mikey had left it here, in case of any ghost-related emergencies where Gerard really needed to talk to Frank. It was supposed to be reassuring, having a possibility to get answers out of Frank, but it really just crept Gerard out even more.

It was a weird afternoon. Gerard sat around for the majority of it, torn between acting as though nothing had happened, going for a long walk, and talking to Frank again. When 6 pm rolled around, Gerard made himself dinner and watched TV. Now that he knew for sure that someone could be watching him the entire time, he felt really on edge. Even having dinner felt like he was acting, pretending for someone, like he was in a weird sitcom with hidden cameras. It was kind of hard to remember how to eat burgers like a normal human being. 

He didn’t feel better after working with Flor the next day either. All she wanted to talk about was Frank and what else he’d done the day before and what Gerard had done and what they would do next, and she was very obviously disappointed when Gerard didn’t have any exciting news for her. He was extra nice to any customers, asking them about every single question he could think of to make them stay in for as long as possible so Flor couldn’t talk about Frank. 

He’d go to sleep early that night, he promised himself when he got home and took his coat off. Sleeping was good. Frank hadn’t really disturbed him while he was asleep yet and Gerard hoped he wouldn’t start tonight. Gerard was pretty exhausted - He deserved some rest. 

But dinner first. He put last night’s leftovers in the microwave and leaned against the counter as he waited for the burger to warm up. Frank wasn’t anywhere to be seen. It was freaking him the fuck out that he literally could come home someday and Frank could be sitting on the sofa again, giving him that same grin, like he belonged there and had been waiting for Gerard. It was really fucking unsettling. 

Everything looked normal today though. The microwave beeped and Gerard carried his burger to the couch, balancing it on his lap while he reached for the remote on the coffee table-

He froze. There was a black rose right next to the remote, so close to it that Gerard hadn’t noticed it before. A fucking black rose. That definitely hadn’t been there before. 

Suddenly he wasn’t hungry anymore. He felt sick as he put the burger aside and got his phone out, frantically googling _black rose meaning_ , and feeling his pulse speed up yet again. If this ghost kept fucking with him, he’d have a fucking heart attack one of these days. Gerard was pretty sure receiving a black rose couldn’t mean anything good, but he needed to be absolutely sure before he’d allow himself to freak out. Unfortunately, it seemed like he’d been right.

Death. Loss. Mourning. Even obsession. Oh god. Frank wanted him fucking dead.

Gerard had gotten up from the couch and was calling Mikey before he’d even made the conscious decision to do so. He needed to talk to him, to anyone, because he really couldn’t do this anymore. 

“Calm down, Gee. I can’t even understand you. You found what?” Mikey asked. Gerard could hear he was trying to keep his cool. 

“A rose,” he repeated, slower this time. “A black rose. He’s going to kill me, fuck. I really think he’s going to kill me.”

“He gave you a flower and you think he’s trying to murder you?” Mikey said, sounding skeptical. “I don’t-”

Gerard whined. “Not just any flower, Mikey. A black rose. They use those at funerals and stuff. It’s a sign of death! This must be a warning. A threat. He’s going to fucking kill me.” 

“I don’t think he’d be sending you flowers if he were trying to kill you...”

“It’s a black rose, Mikey,” he repeated, exasperated. 

“Yeah, I heard you. Okay, if you’re really freaking out so much, why don’t you come back home for a few days? Get some distance between yourself and Frank?” 

Gerard frowned. He’d been pacing up and down and finally made himself stop with a heavy sigh. “I don’t know. What if he... what if he follows me? And then I’ll put you all in danger.”

“I still don’t think he’s dangerous. Just come live with us. Mom will probably give you some shit for it because she’ll think you just miss us so much but... if you’re really freaking out that much...”

“Ugh,” Gerard said. Maybe Mikey was right and he was just overreacting and visiting his parents was a good idea to calm himself down. But what if he wasn’t overreacting? He didn’t want his whole fucking family dead because of him. “You know what, maybe I’ll just stay here. You’re right. I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?” Mikey asked, sounding concerned now. “If you don’t feel safe, you should-” 

“No, it’s alright. I’ll... I’ll just pretend everything’s fine. Pretend I didn’t see the rose and that I’m having a normal fucking day.”

“Do you want me to come over?”

Yeah. “No.” Of course, some company would be awesome right now. But he didn’t want Mikey in danger. “You got classes tomorrow and mom would hate me.”

“I’m an adult,” Mikey said matter-of-factly. 

“Yeah but... Nah. It’s okay.”

“Okay,” Mikey sighed. “But let me know if you change your mind. Or if you need anything else, yeah?”

And when he hung up, the rose was fucking gone. 

He spent the next days out of the apartment as much as he could and showering even less than he normally did because he didn’t want Frank to see him naked. And when he did, he cleaned himself as quickly as possible, never lingering on his dick like he usually would have. Which sucked. He missed jerking off, he really fucking did. Now he’d finally gotten out of his parents’ house and part of him really just wanted to walk around naked all day, buy a bunch of sex toys for himself, and have like, a jerk off marathon while watching porn without having to wear his goddamn earphones. He knew he wouldn’t be able to ignore his cock for the rest of his life, but for now, he guessed he had to. Maybe he could sneak a quick wank at work tomorrow. 

It was ridiculous. He really shouldn’t have to leave the fucking house to get himself off. 

Not that Gerard was keeping count or anything, but today marked the seventh day since his last orgasm and it was quite literally getting harder to hold back by the minute. He dutifully ignored the boner he got in the shower and lay down in bed as if he wasn’t still tenting his boxers, taking the book he was reading from the nightstand and forcing his eyes to move over the pages. He refused to put his hand anywhere near his cock. And he was totally okay with reading about these star-crossed lovers instead. He very much didn’t want to be watching porn right now. He wasn’t thinking about watching a cute dude suck another cute dude’s dick the tiniest bit.

Things had been quiet recently, but that didn’t mean Frank wasn’t still here. Which made sense, Gerard reckoned. He probably needed some time to plot his death. Mikey kept asking him for updates and even came by the store a few times, and with Frank being so ominously quiet, Mikey was able to convince him that he’d just overreacted. Okay, so maybe Frank wasn’t going to kill him. But he was still fucking creepy. 

Even thinking about his brother and that damn black rose wouldn’t make his boner go down tonight. Fuck. Gerard put the book away with a sigh, then turned the light off and hid under the covers. He took a deep breath. Maybe Frank wasn’t even watching him right now. Maybe he had a few minutes to himself. Maybe Frank couldn’t even see in the dark and if he didn’t make a sound, he wouldn’t ever know. He could be quiet. Or maybe Gerard was just fucking desperate at that point. 

Before he could change his mind, he was rubbing himself through his underwear. He choked back a groan because fuck, it had been way too long, and decided to stop teasing himself. Making himself cum undoubtedly wouldn’t take very long - but still. Maybe he only had a few minutes until Frank decided to be an asshole once again. 

His hips rocketed upward when he wrapped his hand around himself. He was already achingly hard, warm and heavy in his trembling hand, and when he gently rubbed his thumb over the head, it was sticky with precum. A quiet moan trembled from his lips when he began jerking himself, not building up to anything but just going for it, fueled by need. And yeah, this really wouldn’t take long at all. He cringed at the way too loud noises his movements made, silently cursed himself for every gasp he couldn’t hold back, but after a few minutes, it was easy to forget why he was in such a hurry. Finally touching himself again felt like heaven, and soon Gerard’s entire body was buzzing with pleasure, desperate for relief. 

Then something was tugging at his covers. Gerard gasped shrilly, hand leaving his leaking cock as he held onto the sheets instead. Suddenly he wasn’t on the brink of orgasm but fucking terrified. It had taken a moment to settle in but now he realized Frank had been watching him, and Frank was trying to pull the fucking sheets off, so Gerard was holding on for dear life. And he was fucking strong too. Gerard only fought for a few seconds before he realized he didn’t stand a chance and let go, quickly pulling his underwear up instead. The sheets flew off the bed abruptly, leaving Gerard shaking, and then the lamp on his nightstand was turned on again. Gerard couldn’t even sit up. Remaining on his back, he quickly scanned the room with his pulse racing through his body and his erection all but forgotten - but Frank wasn’t anywhere to be seen. 

Nothing else happened. After a few minutes, Gerard took a deep breath, not sure whether he was allowed to feel relieved now. 

“Okay, that’s it,” he mumbled to himself, slowly getting up. Something had to change. He couldn’t keep living like this. “I can do this. It’s fine.”

Even as he reminded himself that Mikey and Flor both didn’t think Frank was dangerous over and over, his knees were still wobbly when forced he himself into the living room. He knelt down to pull the Ouija board out from under the couch, then paused to consider lighting some candles - but Frank was very obviously already here so he didn’t have to summon him or anything. He doubted candles would be necessary. 

His heart was beating like crazy as he warmed up the planchette like they had the last time. It was gonna be okay. He’d just talk to Frank... Ask him what the fuck his deal was... And then they’d come to an agreement and his life would be so much easier. He was sure he could make Frank see reason if he was polite and respectful and shit. 

Then, when he had moved the planchette around for minutes, he realized nothing else needed to be done. This was it. And this time he’d have to do the talking himself. 

“H-Hello?” His voice was shaking, and he cleared his throat, trying to sound more confident. “Hello, Frank? It’s... It’s Gerard. I wanna talk to you, please. I really need to talk to you.”

Nothing happened. For a moment, Gerard was dumbfounded. Then he realized he hadn’t exactly asked a question. 

“Can I talk to you about something, please?” 

_Yes_. It moved so quickly Gerard let out an embarrassing gasp. 

He nodded with a forced smile. “Okay. Thank- Thank you. I’m, uh, really sorry if you felt like we disrespected you the last time we talked to you. I didn’t mean to, I swear. I actually respect you a lot. So, I was wondering if we could... talk about our... living arrangements. Please?”

Again, nothing happened for a long moment. Gerard sighed, feeling himself grow impatient. What else could Frank possibly want him to do?

“Okay, but without the fucking board this time. I’m sick of having to spell everything out.”

Gerard spun around so fast he felt dizzy. There was a voice. Fucking right behind him. He saw the same legs, this time standing up, the same fucking grey tee, and when he looked at his face, he was suddenly very glad he was already on his knees because he doubted his legs would work right now. 

Now with the overhead light on instead of a flashlight, he didn’t look as creepy - Gerard fleetingly realized he’d looked like a regular, attractive twenty-something-year-old - but he still scared him shitless. Judging by the smirk on Frank’s face, he could tell. “What’s wrong, Gee? Don’t wanna talk anymore?” 

Gerard closed his mouth and nodded, unable to look away. He looked so _real._ He had a fucking lip piercing and a bunch of tattoos and his eyes were vivid, watching him like any normal fucking pair of eyes would. This wasn’t how he’d imagined ghosts to look like. 

“Okay, if you don’t wanna talk...” Frank said lazily, forcing Gerard out of his stupor. 

“No, wait, I do. Sorry. I do,” he stuttered. “It’s just...”

“What? Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a ghost before?” Frank looked so pleased with himself. It was practically plastered all over his face. His handsome face. 

Gerard shook his head. “N-No. Well, I’ve seen you before. For like half a second. But... you could’ve just _talked_ to us the whole time? What about the- the board?”

“Yeah, the board was fun for a few hours but it got old fast. No way of getting sarcasm across.”

Gerard made an unintelligent noise in response, not really sure what to say. None of this made any sense. He was talking to a fucking ghost. Oh god. He began trembling worse when it began to sink in completely, the shock wearing off bit by bit. He was talking to a ghost. Who could most likely fucking kill him in a matter of seconds. 

“I’m- I’m sorry about last time,” Gerard croaked out, casting his eyes down because his brain really couldn’t handle looking at Frank a second longer. “I hope we didn’t- make you too mad. I didn’t mean to. Please don’t hurt me.”

“Who says I wanna hurt you?” 

Gerard gulped. Was this a test? “Nobody,” he whimpered. “I’m just. I’m scared. I’ll do whatever you want, just... please don’t hurt me or my friends.”

It took a moment for Frank to reply. Gerard bit down on his tongue to stop himself from begging - he didn’t want to piss Frank off. He really fucking didn’t. “Whatever I want, huh?”

“Yeah.” Gerard nodded hastily. “Anything. Please. Do you want me to move out? Do you want your peace and quiet?”

“Nah. I want you to stay here,” Frank said. Gerard nodded his agreement hastily. “I like you. Man, _anything I want_... Well, what did you want to talk about?”

“Just...” Even the small courage he’d managed to gather earlier had disappeared by now, and he felt fucking ridiculous to ask Frank for some privacy. Still, he knew better than to make Frank think he’d contacted him for nothing. He wasn’t going to lie to him. “I was just hoping we could like, come to a compromise. Because I feel like you’re... you’re watching me when I’m doing... private things. And maybe-”

“You mean like I saw you finger yourself in the shower the other day? Or that I know what kinda porn you watch? Or that I heard your pretty moans?” Frank giggled. “You’re lucky I didn’t bring any of that up with your brother and that girl, don’t you think? Maybe you should be thanking me.”

“Thank you,” Gerard hurried to say, feeling even more mortified at the mere thought. His face was hot and he still couldn’t look at Frank. 

Frank hummed. “You’re welcome. It’s our dirty little secret, Gerard, isn’t it? Only we know how pretty you sound when you cum. Or how loud you are as soon as something touches your prostate, hm?”

“Oh god.” Gerard lowered his head, squeezing his eyes shut. “I- I’m sorry.”

“Sorry? You’re fucking hot, Gerard. You don’t need to be sorry for that.” Gerard was pretty sure he’d passed out. Maybe he was in a coma and this was a weird drug-induced dream. A hallucination. Because there was no way a ghost had just called him attractive. “You know, now I know what I want you to do. Jack off for me.” 

“What?” His cock twitched in his underwear. Something about the way Frank said it made him really fucking want to. Maybe it was that he hadn’t made himself cum ever since he’d found out there was a ghost in his apartment and that the orgasms he’d had in the week before that had always left him wanting more. Maybe it was because Frank was fucking handsome and that Gerard kind of really liked getting ordered around. Or maybe he was actually going insane. 

“Touch yourself. You’ve gotta be desperate by now. I know you wanna cum and finally you can stop wondering whether I’m watching you or not. Because I will be watching you very closely.”

His dick filled out quickly, making his face heat up even more. Fuck. He’d never jerked off in front of anyone before... well, not knowingly anyway. Suddenly it seemed like a very good idea to touch himself for Frank. 

“Gerard,” he said, like a warning, but it was unnecessary. 

“Okay.” Gerard looked up, briefly meeting Frank’s wanton eyes, before he sat up on his knees and pushed his underwear down to his thighs. His legs started to cramp up but he couldn’t care less right now. Frank made a pleased noise when Gerard began pumping himself, eyes fluttering closed at the sensation. Fucking finally he could just jerk off. Without having to worry about his phone suddenly going off or some mysterious knocks on his door. Despite being so tense and hopelessly turned on, he also felt some relief. Finally Frank was just letting him cum. 

Right? “You’re... You’re not going to do it again, are you?” he asked, anxious again.

“Do what again?” Frank asked, obviously teasing. Of course he’d make Gerard say it. 

“You know,” Gerard panted. “Make- make something happen so I need to- to stop. Something that’ll make it less... good.”

Frank chuckled at him. “Aw, are you scared I’ll ruin your orgasm? You just wanna cum, Gee, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Gerard admitted, ignoring how the humiliation made his cock twitch in his hand. This really shouldn’t be as hot as it was. “I’m close.”

“Already?” Gerard didn’t have to open his eyes to know Frank was grinning. _Yes_ , fucking already. As if he didn’t fucking know what Gerard had been going through the last few weeks, Jesus Christ. “Well. If you wanna cum, you better look at me and ask.”

Frank _was_ grinning. But that wasn’t what Gerard was focused on when he opened his eyes obediently - Frank had a boner. He was still wearing his pants and his arms were folded in front of his chest, but he was so obviously hard Gerard felt his cheeks heat up even more, despite the situation he was in. 

Gerard gulped. “I... I wanna cum,” he stammered, finally looking at Frank’s face instead. He tried to ignore how smug he looked. “Can I?” 

And wow, he was fucking waiting for permission to cum right now. It was like Frank had read his mind and decided to make his wet dreams come true. God, he hoped Frank couldn’t read his mind. 

“Say please.”

Shit. “Please,” Gerard repeated, maybe a little too eager. If Frank pulled his hair, made him call him sir and spanked him next, Gerard knew for sure that he could read his mind. “Please let me cum.” 

The shit-eating grin turned into a thoughtful expression when Frank knelt down in front of Gerard. Their faces were a few inches apart, and Gerard held his breath. Holy shit. He had tiny freckles on his cheeks and his eyes were this cool greenish color Gerard kind of really liked. He was even more handsome up close. 

“Keep going,” Frank said. Gerard quickly began jerking himself again, not having realized he’d stopped in the first place. “I have one condition before you can cum. Something that’ll solve your problem too. I want you to jerk off every day from now on. No more ignoring your morning wood and all that. I wanna see you make yourself cum every day at least once. And you better make it fun to watch. Got it?”

When Frank stopped speaking, Gerard was about ready to cum all over himself. Holy fucking shit. It was really hard to hold himself back and force out an answer. “Yeah, yeah I got it. I’ll make it good for you. I swear.”

“Hm. Good boy.” Frank stood up again, towering above Gerard with a smirk. “You can cum.”

Gerard groaned in relief, stroking himself a few more times before he reached his climax. He collapsed to the floor, holding himself up with his free hand, and fuck, he hadn’t cum that hard in years. All he could do was gasp for breath as the pleasure just kept coming. Frank chuckled above him. 

“That’s right, cum for me, Gerard. So pretty,” he heard Frank say. “Better always make it this good. You’ll know if I’m ever not satisfied with your little show.” 

When Gerard opened his eyes, still breathless and completely boneless, he was alone again.


	6. Chapter 6

If Gerard weren’t so nervous, he’d be fucking laughing at himself right now. Just a few weeks ago, he’d been worried about things like how many boxes he’d need to move all his shit to his new place or if he should reread _Catcher in the Rye_ or _Dune_ first, and now here he was, touching himself for a ghost. 

Honestly, he didn’t feel as weird about it as he thought he would. Frank’s attractiveness helped a lot. Gerard couldn’t wrap his head around it but since he’d revealed himself last night, he wasn’t as scared of Frank anymore. Of course he was still scared. But now that he knew that Mikey had been right and that Frank wouldn’t hurt him - as long as he did as he was told - there was this weird thrill to the whole situation that Gerard was somehow really excited about. He liked being told what to do. And he was a fucking virgin, so excuse him for taking what he could get. 

He’d been thinking about where he should get himself off all day at work. Frank wanted a show. Gerard couldn’t jerk off under the covers - Last night Frank had made it very clear he wasn’t too satisfied with that, and Gerard didn’t want to have to deal with him pulling his covers off again because that had scared the shit out of him. 

He’d decided to do it on the bed, but on top of the covers, and he’d drag it out a bit. With Frank towering above him last night, he’d cum embarrassingly fast, and he was confident he could last longer than that today. A little longer anyway. He’d gone from gently rubbing himself through his underwear to giving himself languid and controlled strokes, which were slowly but surely turning into more urgent ones. His fist was so tight, and when he closed his eyes, he could easily pretend it was Frank’s hand touching him. He shuddered thinking about what it would feel like to have him join in instead of just watching. Whether his hand would be as cold as it had been when he’d touched his cheek, whether he’d be gentle or rough, whether he’d tease him or make him cum for him in a matter of minutes. He was pretty sure he’d make him beg again. Gerard moaned at the thought, stroking himself faster. Frank would make him wait for it, tease him with light touches until Gerard was almost crying from frustration and his cock was pink and leaking and desperate. And then he’d take him in his hand and give him a few teasing strokes, maybe even use his mouth a little, lap the pre cum up with his tongue. His cock throbbed in his hand as he imagined Frank going down on him, and even though he knew the Frank in his fantasy wouldn’t let him cum yet, Gerard couldn’t hold back any longer. He cursed when he tipped over the edge, twisting on the bed with every wave of pleasure that coursed through his every cell. His stomach was covered in white splotches when he finally caught his breath again. For a few moments, he looked around, expecting Frank to appear and tell him he’d done well… but nothing happened. So Gerard heaved himself off the bed after another minute so he could clean the cum off in the bathroom. 

The next morning, he woke up achingly hard. He had to get ready for work, but Frank had explicitly told him not to ignore his morning wood, so he guessed he didn’t have a choice. 

After his shift, he went grocery shopping. By the time he was done, he felt pretty damn exhausted. In a way, it felt good to come home now, because he knew what to expect, and he may or may not have been looking forward to jerking off for Frank the entire day. He ran into Lucas as he entered the building and avoided eye-contact like a pro, then took the elevator to get the thirteenth floor, thinking about where he could do it today. Maybe on the couch. Maybe on the floor. Something told him Frank would like seeing him touching himself on his knees again…

But when he got out of the elevator, his plans were changed abruptly. Mikey was sitting on the floor, back against the wall, looking annoyed but somehow managing to smile at the same time. “Fucking finally!” he said, scrambling to his feet. “I’ve been waiting here for like, _fifteen minutes_. What the fuck?”

Gerard pointed at his shopping bag apologetically and shrugged. “Sorry. I didn’t know we were hanging out today…” 

“Well. It’s Friday and we hardly hang out anymore. Also, there’s a certain _something_ happening in your apartment and you’ve neglected to update me. What other choice did I have?” 

Gerard hummed. He had a point.

Mikey took a step back when Gerard unlocked the door, pointedly not offering to take his bags or anything, and when they entered the apartment, he slumped down on the couch. “Hi, Frank, by the way. If you can hear me. I’m taking your newest victim out for a while,” he said. “Gee, put your food away. We’re meeting Toro in twenty minutes.”

It wasn’t until he was in Ray’s car, driving to his apartment while blasting Slayer, that Gerard thought about that he maybe should’ve asked Frank if he could leave. He probably wouldn’t be back until like midnight, and well, didn’t Frank get lonely? He’d already been at work the whole damn day, and he would have to work tomorrow as well, and now he was also spending the evening outside his apartment.

At least he’d already jacked off in the morning, he thought as they got out of the car a few minutes later. Then felt ashamed of himself because he was right next to his brother. 

Hanging out at Ray’s was pretty much always the same, but it never got boring. He shared his apartment with his brother, who was hardly ever home and didn’t mind Ray’s friends drinking his beer (because the Toros were like, the nicest family in Jersey). Ray had a bunch of old movies they all loved and awesome video games they’d been playing together for fifteen years. So tonight they watched Susperia and ate pizza and drank Ed’s booze, and it almost felt like it always had, so normal and fun that Gerard could have forgotten about Frank so easily-

If Mikey weren’t Mikey. He kept asking about him, kind of like Flor had, and wasn't satisfied with any vague answer Gerard stuttered out. It was actually kind of hilarious because Gerard kept trying to dodge his questions, even when Mikey got so frustrated he punched his arm, so Ray switched to responsible parent mode and sat between them on the couch so they couldn’t hurt each other, even if they were just fucking around. 

“Are you sure you weren’t just drunk or something?” he kept asking, unable to believe there was actually a ghost in Gerard’s apartment. A few days ago, Gerard would’ve appreciated his words so much, because finally someone was questioning it and not just like _A ghost? Oh yeah, that’s great. Let’s talk to him and become best friends._ But now he knew Frank was very much not just a product of his imagination. 

“He’s real,” Mikey assured Ray over and over. “He pinched my fucking arm! And then he turned the lights off and sat down on Gee’s couch - Gee saw him!”

“How did you see him when the lights were off?” Ray asked, skeptical and rational as always. “Maybe it was just a trick of-”

“No, Gee saw him. Tell him, Gee! We had Flor’s flashlight and all.”

Ray frowned. “Flor? Isn’t that the girl you work with?”

While Mikey looked like he’d be punching Gerard again if Ray weren’t blocking the way, Gerard happily told him more about Flor instead. He was kind of glad he could avoid talking about Frank for a while. 

He’d told Mikey Frank was giving him a break. Not really bothering him since he’d put that black rose on his coffee table. He _had_ to - because he kind of really couldn’t tell Mikey that Flor had been right and ghosts _did_ get horny, and he really didn’t want to tell Mikey about that encounter he’d had the other day and how much he was into obeying Frank’s orders. He knew it was fucked up. Maybe Frank was brainwashing him a little, manipulating him into getting off on it. Either way, he did not want his brother to know.

So he acted like he thought maybe Ray had a point and it wasn’t that big a deal. Mikey looked furious. Gerard knew he was being a dick but he kind of didn’t have another choice.

“You wanna know my theory?” Ray asked, and while Gerard nodded enthusiastically, Mikey mumbled a _Not really_ around his bottle of beer. Ray continued anyway. “So. You’ve been stressed out recently, haven’t you, Gee? I mean, moving can be tough. Especially if you’re living on your own for the first time ever. And you’re used to always having someone around you from living with your parents and Mikey, right? And suddenly you’re alone all damn day. Maybe your mind’s been playing tricks on you, to like, make you feel less lonely! And because you’ve been stressed out, everything felt so real. And as for what happened with the Ouija board – don’t you always need to play with an asshole in order for those things to work? So I’m thinking maybe Flor was fucking with you. And you were so on edge that it seemed real and you even thought you saw him. But now you’re calming down and you’re not hearing him that often anymore, right? Maybe it was all just in your head.”

“But Flor wasn’t even touching the planchette,” Mikey argued. “Ray, you wouldn’t be saying this if you’d been there. I swear to god. There is an actual ghost in Gerard’s apartment.”

Gerard focused on drinking while the other two started a heated discussion about supernatural encounters and why there would be a ghost in Gerard’s apartment in the first place. Ray emphasized that he didn’t say it was _completely_ impossible but didn’t they think it was _kind of_ suspicious the ghost suddenly wasn’t interested in haunting Gerard anymore?, whereas Mikey told him to stop doubting it because they hadn’t just imagined the candles being blown out and the room suddenly going cold and that bag of chips exploding (It exploded, Ray! When was the last time you made your chips explode by sheer will power?) and that none of them had written that weird message on the piece of paper. If Gerard didn’t know any better, he’d totally be on Ray’s side. Just because the points he made were tenant-friendly and not half as urgently delivered as Mikey’s. But of course, Mikey was right.

By the time they finally changed the subject, Gerard was pretty tipsy. He checked the clock with a groan – it was already past midnight. Sometimes he hated the comic book store was opened on Saturdays too.

Ray drove him home a few minutes later. Mikey said something about how he hoped his _imaginative_ ghost would let him get some rest before he grabbed another beer and Ray and Gerard went outside. Gerard suppressed a sigh. Maybe he should apologize to Mikey tomorrow. But then again, he couldn’t tell him what Frank had been really up to, could he?

“Be back in twenty, Mikey!” Ray said before shutting the door. “Sucks you’re working tomorrow, Gee. Maybe we can hang out after?”

Gerard agreed it sucked he was working tomorrow because he was pretty sure he’d be hungover. He very much did not want to get up at 8. “Sure, I’ll come by tomorrow evening,” he promised vaguely as he got in the car, careful not to trip. “Thanks for driving me, by the way.”

Then Ray started the engine and Slayer started playing at full volume, putting their conversation to an abrupt stop. Gerard didn’t mind. In his tipsy state, he could easily ignore he’d have to work in only a few hours, and that tomorrow would probably be a really shitty day. Instead, he only focused on what would happen when he got home in a few minutes. Technically, it was already the next day, so… would Frank want him to jerk off now? Gerard was very much in the mood. There was this odd confidence that came with being drunk, so right now he’d love putting on a show. He’d make it real good, tease himself for Frank, maybe even finger himself a bit and moan for him. He was sure Frank would enjoy that.

“Thank you!” he yelled at Ray when he stopped the car. Ray shouted at him that he’d see him tomorrow, and then Gerard jumped out onto the sidewalk as swiftly as he could while also concealing his boner and waving Ray goodbye. He was on a roll.

An endless elevator ride later, he finally found himself in front of his apartment again. It took him one or two or three attempts more than usual to unlock the door, but then he finally stumbled inside, giggling to himself because he probably looked like a fucking moron. He didn’t mind, though.

Frank was standing by the coat rack, watching him with an unreadable smile. It usually would’ve scared Gerard shitless but somehow looking at Frank right now just made him giggle more, and he had to lean against the door so he didn’t fall over as he kicked his shoes off. Part of him wanted to grab him and dry-hump him and make out with him because he was still pretty hard, but well. Ghost.

“Fun night out?” Frank asked, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Gerard snorted and giggled so hard he had to take a moment to get himself under control again – because Frank probably thought he’d been at a fucking bar or something, not that he’d eaten greasy pizza on his best friend’s worn-out couch. “What?”

“Yeah, fun night out,” Gerard chuckled. He shrugged his coat off and, after just a moment of hesitation, approached Frank to put it on the rack. “Very fun. Nothing not fun about it.”

“You’re drunk, aren’t you? Man, you have no idea how much I miss drinking. And smoking. Fuck, and pot. I miss pot.”

Somehow that made Gerard laugh too. He stumbled through the living room and towards the bathroom, feeling pleased when Frank followed him.

“So, what did you do?”

Still amused by Frank picturing him in a club or something, Gerard wiggled his brows at him. “You know,” he said suggestively. “Flirting. Drinking. Partying.”

Frank raised a brow at him. “Oh yeah?”

“No,” Gerard said quickly, laughing even more. He grabbed his toothbrush and dropped it in the sink. “Just watched a movie with some friends. We had pizza though. Which is like, way better than flirting and partying anyway.”

Frank chuckled, nodding his head slowly. “You’re not wrong.”

“What did _you_ do?” Gerard asked. He closed one eye when he squeezed some toothpaste onto his toothbrush and felt proud of himself when he managed to get an appropriate amount out. “Did you miss me?”

“You know, ghost stuff,” Frank said vaguely, sitting down on the closed toilet lid as Gerard started brushing his teeth.

“As a non-ghost, I don’t really know what ghost stuff entails.”

Frank grinned. “I know.”

“If you’re trying to be mysterious and all…” Gerard began, but he had to spit out first because he could barely even understand himself. “It’s working. You’re pretty creepy.”

“Yeah? Because you’re being kinda… you know, not as respectful as you usually are.”

His words made Gerard’s stomach tingle. He glanced at Frank, realizing that fuck, he wasn’t exactly on his best behavior – But Ray and Mikey’s discussion and the beer had left him kind of careless and light-headed. “Sorry,” he mumbled around his toothbrush. “You’re just not very intimidating right now. And I’m kinda tipsy.”

“Huh. Not intimidating enough for you?” Frank asked. Gerard blushed and shook his head.

“No, you… you can be really damn intimidating. Not that you look very intimidating. You actually look kinda cute. But, uh. You’re a ghost. And I’m still alive. And I really don’t want you to hurt me or anything,” he explained, belatedly realizing his words would've been more meaningful if he hadn't said them with a toothbrush in his mouth. He gave up on brushing his teeth and rinsed his mouth instead.

Frank was suspiciously quiet for a moment. When Gerard looked at him again, he was standing up. Somehow that made him look more intimidating already. Gerard gulped. “Sorry,” he said quickly, not really sure why he was apologizing – but he always rambled when he was drunk, so he figured he’d probably said a few things he should be sorry for.

“You don’t want me to hurt you?” Frank repeated.

“Yeah. I mean, obviously. Please don’t?” Gerard said awkwardly. Frank smiled as he closed the distance between them. He was actually a little shorter than Gerard, which didn’t happen very often. Most of his male friends were taller than him. Even Flor, who was a _girl_ , was almost as tall as him. And here was Frank, who Gerard kind of really fucking feared, and he was shorter than him. Somehow that made Gerard giggle again. “Sorry,” he apologized, forcing the grin off his face. “Sorry, I don’t... Please don’t hurt me, I mean it.”

Frank ignored his outburst. He studied Gerard’s face when he was only a few inches away from him, then shrugged his shoulders. “I’m just asking because… I kinda thought you wanted me to hurt you. I know what kinda porn you watch, remember?”

That changed Gerard’s mood completely, sobered him up a bit. He bit down on his lip and swallowed. “Yeah, but…”

“Remember the one you watched in bed a few days after you moved in? The one you were watching when I turned on your shower?” Frank asked, giving Gerard a huge grin while Gerard’s pulse started racing. “If I remember correctly, there was quite a lot of pain involved in that one. And humiliation. And begging. And orgasm control. You into that, huh?”

Gerard’s face was on fire. “I… I guess,” he said, looking at the floor instead of Frank’s face. He knew that specific video very well because it was one of his favorites. It was a scene featuring a dark-haired sub (who kind of reminded him of himself) and three men who’d been given permission by his Dom to punish him for doing his chores lazily. Gerard fucking loved that video. The acting was _unreal_ , as if he were watching an actual punishment scene instead of something scripted. “You wanna do that to me?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know. Be my Dom,” Gerard added, speaking quickly and stumbling over his words. “I mean. I think you’re hot. Like, really hot. I know you’re a ghost and all but… you got a boner the other day, so you could like, fuck me, right? And I love jerking off for you, following your orders. You can be as rough as you wanna be with me. Do whatever you want.”

When he looked at Frank again, he looked amused more than anything else. Which wasn’t a bad thing, right? “Yeah? Like what?”

“I don’t know,” Gerard said. “Touch me. Or… make me do shit. Give me rules and punish me when I don’t do as you say. Make me your bitch.”

Frank chuckled at his last words, but before Gerard could start feeling self-conscious about them, he was quiet once more. Instead he reached out for Gerard’s face, cupping his nape with his fingers and stroking his face with his thumb, kind of like he had that one time before. Gerard shivered. He instinctively opened his mouth when Frank’s thumb brushed over his lips, but then he removed his hand and showed Gerard his thumb, revealing he’d just wiped some toothpaste off the corner of his mouth. He wiped it off on Gerard’s t-shirt and smirked at him. “My bitch, huh?” he repeated, finally breaking the silence. “You want that?”

Gerard nodded because he was pretty sure his voice wouldn’t work right now. Something about hearing Frank say that was really damn hot.

“Seriously?”

“Uh huh,” Gerard made, nodding again. He dropped to his knees, suddenly eager to prove he wasn’t kidding, and looked up at Frank with bated breath. “Seriously. I’ll- I’ll start right now. Wanna be good for you.”

Frank was speechless for a moment or two. Then he licked his lips and nodded, smiling again. “You’re the most interesting person that’s lived in this apartment the last twenty years, you know that?”

“Uh. Thanks?” Gerard said. He shifted on his knees and waited for Frank to say more. His head was spinning like crazy.

“You’re welcome,” Frank said with a grin. Then he sighed. “Okay. But first of all, I need you to sober up. I’m pretty sure you’ll feel real embarrassed about this in the morning.”

Gerard shrugged. “I don’t think so.”

“I know so,” Frank replied good-naturedly. “Either way – You. Bed. Get some sleep, bitch.”

“As you wish,” Gerard said, giggling again because the affectionate tone and the word were a funny combination. He stumbled to his feet and pulled his shirt off unashamedly, feeling even more confident when he caught Frank staring at his bared chest. He must’ve seen him naked so many times but he still wanted to look at him? Fuck yes. Gerard took off his jeans, leaving them on the floor for himself to take care of in the morning, and headed for the bedroom. “Want me to jerk off for you before I sleep?”

“Hm. No,” Frank decided, walking right behind him. “Want you to jerk off for me tomorrow. When you’re embarrassed because you think you made an ass out of yourself. It’ll be so hot.”

“I won’t feel embarrassed,” Gerard argued when he slid under the covers.

Frank grinned. “Trust me. You will.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ugh guys I'm so sorry. I know this took forever and this chapter isn't even super long to make up for it but I hope you still like it! things have been a little crazy for me (as I'm sure they've been for everyone) so I don't know when I'll be able to write the next chapter - I'll do my best though! thank you for all your sweet and encouraging comments. they truly mean a lot! x

He did. There were a few minutes he got to spend blissfully unaware of what he’d done, right after his alarm made him jolt out of his sleep the next morning, but the moment he opened his eyes, last night’s memories made him cringe so hard he had to hide his face in the crook of his elbow and wallow in his own misery for a while. Fuck. He was such a fucking idiot.

He slowly crawled out of bed and into the shower when he couldn’t procrastinate it even more, praying the water would soothe his headache as well as the sickening feeling in his stomach. God, this was so humiliating. Frank was a ghost - he had powers Gerard couldn’t even imagine - and instead of being polite and nice and keeping his distance, Gerard asked him to hurt him? That was about the stupidest thing he’d ever done.

With his head throbbing and filled with regrets, Gerard forced himself out of the shower a few minutes later, still reluctant to get ready for work. For a second, he considered calling in sick… but the alternative was staying at home with Frank all day, so. Yeah, maybe he’d just go to work, after all.

At least he wasn’t working with Flor that day, he thought. Then took a moment to raise his brows at himself in the mirror because wow, that was a thought he definitely wouldn’t have had a few weeks ago.

He still fancied her, he pondered as he shuffled into the bedroom, towel wrapped around his middle and hair still damp. He just didn’t like her interrogations very much. Just like with Mikey, he didn’t really want to tell her about all the things he’d been up to. Especially not after last night.

“Good morning!”

Gerard let out an embarrassing squeak at the sudden loud voice behind him, almost dropping his towel as he spun around. Frank was lying on his bed, back against the headrest, looking smug and handsome. Gerard held onto his towel a little tighter.

“Jesus, you scared the shit out of me,” he mumbled, breathless. The ache in his head worsened for a few heartbeats, as if backing him up.

Frank’s smirk widened. “Uh oh. That isn’t how you talk to your Dom, is it?”

“I…” Gerard was at a loss for words. Of course he’d tease him about it. He guessed he kind of had it coming, but he’d hoped Frank would at least have mercy on him until he’d had some coffee.

“Aw, don’t blush, sugar. You were so into this last night,” Frank continued, undoubtedly making Gerard’s face turn an even darker shade of pink. “It was cute.”

“I’m sorry,” Gerard said, taking a deep breath. “I shouldn’t have- I was just really tipsy, I’m sorry I bothered you. I really don’t know what else to say. Can we please just… forget it happened?”

Frank’s brows shot up. “Forget it happened? Fuck no. I’ve been bored out of my mind for years and now you come along and you’re the only person that’s caught my interest since like, _ages_ ago, and you wanna act like none of that happened?”

Gerard looked away. “It’s just so embarrassing. I shouldn’t have said-”

“You’re so adorable when you’re all shy. Told you you’d feel like this in the morning,” Frank chuckled. “You still want me to be rough with you? Tell you what to do? Because I’ve had time to think and I can do that, you know.”

“I don’t know,” Gerard whined. His cock gave a confused twitch that he hoped went unnoticed by Frank. “Please, can we just… talk about this later? I’m barely even awake enough to have this conversation.”

Still grinning, Frank shook his head. He sat up on Gerard’s bed and threw his legs over the edge, then looked up at Gerard teasingly. “Let’s help you wake up a little,” he suggested, but it sounded more like an order. “Come here.”

“Please, I gotta get to work,” Gerard said, even though his legs clearly wanted to do as Frank said. He shivered as he stood his ground. “I still gotta have breakfast and-”

“It won’t hurt you to skip your coffee this morning. I promise you’ll feel wide awake when you leave the apartment,” he said, piercing Gerard with his gaze. “Come here.”

Something told Gerard Frank wouldn’t sound so patient if he made him repeat himself _again_ , so he obeyed, stepping closer hesitantly. He came to a halt a few inches in front of Frank, trembling slightly.

“Good. Now, drop the towel.”

For a second, Gerard’s fingers tightened around the damp material. Then he closed his eyes and let it fall to the floor. His cheeks heated up even more as he found himself standing completely naked in front of Frank, half-hard and breathing shallowly.

“Love how much you get off on this,” Frank said quietly. Gerard flinched when he reached out to touch his hip, only with the tips of his fingers, but it was enough to make Gerard’s whole body tingle. His hand traveled up to his stomach and chest, teasing him gently before wandering lower. Gerard felt himself fill out so fast his head spun. All he could focus on were Frank’s fingertips, stroking his belly and hips and thighs, but never where he really wanted him to touch. Frank looked up at him and grinned. “God, you’re hot. You sound so pretty.”

Gerard held his breath, realizing he’d been gasping and moaning the whole time. A sharp smack from Frank made him exhale abruptly. “Didn’t tell you to stop.”

“Sorry,” Gerard whispered hoarsely. He gulped when Frank went back to teasing him, avoiding his hard cock with frustrating nonchalance. Gerard really couldn’t take it much longer. “Fuck, please, come on-”

“Last night you gave me permission to do whatever I want with you, Gee. But I’m not forcing you to do anything. If you’d rather go to work…” He trailed off, removing his hand at the same time, and Gerard could have cried. He’d been so close to his dick.

“No, I didn’t mean- I’m sorry. You can still do whatever you want,” he said quickly, clenching his fists by his sides.

Frank smirked at him. “So you want me to touch you again?”

“Yes,” Gerard breathed out, nodding. “Please.”

“Hm,” Frank made. Gerard’s cock jerked when he felt his thumb rub over his tip, just once to gather his pre cum, but it was enough to make Gerard tense up and curse. When he opened his eyes again after a moment, Frank was watching him intensely. “Prove it. Kneel.”

Gerard was sure his legs would bruise with how hard his knees hit the floor. It made Frank chuckle once more, but somehow Gerard was beyond caring now. God, he’d be jerking off thinking about this for _years_ to come. Not daring to break eye contact with Frank, he obediently opened his mouth when he felt his cold thumb on his bottom lip, taking him into his mouth without hesitation.

“Can you taste yourself?” Frank asked, completely unashamed, and Gerard’s cock jumped against his belly. “Do you taste as desperate as you look?”

Gerard hummed and nodded his head the tiniest bit. The taste wasn’t really prominent on his tongue but it was there, even when Frank pulled his thumb out again and smiled at him.

“Wanna jerk off for me?”

“Yeah,” Gerard moaned, nodding more urgently. He didn’t even have a moment to think about how he’d much rather have Frank jerk him off. The need for relief was too big for him to be picky.

“Yeah? Wanna cum for me?” Frank pushed. Gerard nodded once more. It was getting harder by the second to keep his hands by his sides.

“Too bad,” Frank said then, grinning wider. “You gotta get ready for work, Gee.”

“I don’t- Work can wait. I got time,” Gerard assured him urgently. “I got time. I can jerk off for you.”

“I know you can but you’re not going to,” Frank explained as the grin on his face grew wider. “I want you to wait.”

“I can’t,” Gerard said quickly, shuffling closer on his knees. “I can’t, fuck, come on. It’ll only be a few minutes. Please.”

Frank shook his head. “You’re gonna get up, get dressed and go to work now, sweetheart,” he said, irritatingly calm in comparison to Gerard’s increasingly desperate whimpers. “Do not touch yourself. When you come back, we’ll have some fun together.”

“But it’ll be hours till then. Frank, come on,” Gerard pleaded, but he could tell Frank had made up his mind. Which turned him on even more. “Please, I’ll-”

“I’ll know if you disobeyed,” Frank continued, ignoring Gerard’s imploring eyes. “So do as you’re told. You don’t want me to punish you, do you?”

“No,” Gerard said meekly. He really didn’t.

“So are you gonna touch yourself without my permission?”

Gerard whined. It was really fucking unfair because _of course_ he wanted to be good, but Frank’s words were so fucking hot he didn’t know if he’d be physically able to obey. It was like he was in the middle of one of his fucking wet dreams and his cock was screaming at him to just _do_ something.

“Gerard.”

“I won’t,” he promised, ignoring his cock jerking once more. “But you’ll… let me cum when I’m back home. Right?”

Frank shrugged. “That’s for me to know and for you to find out. Be good, Gee.”

He disappeared into thin air before Gerard could say another thing, leaving him breathless and aching in front of his bed. Unable to hold himself up anymore, he slumped forward and took a moment to recompose himself.

By the time he had talked himself out of breaking Frank’s rule straight away, he was running seriously late. Suddenly the life outside his apartment became relevant again. He put on his widest pair of jeans - because he hadn’t been able to talk his boner down one bit - grabbed his work shirt and hurried out of the bedroom with barely three minutes until his shift began.

Without any caffeine in his system, his head killing him, his every cell on fucking fire, the most boring coworker ever, and the store being as busy as it got today, Gerard’s day was pure torture. He also remembered he’d promised to go over to Ray’s later, so he wouldn’t even have that much time once he got home. Maybe Frank wouldn’t even let him cum when he told him he’d be going out. God, he hoped Frank would let him cum. It was all he could think about the whole day, which resulted in him being on edge and unable to focus on anything anyone said, which resulted in several customers being dissatisfied and his coworker Sam giving him disapproving looks at least three times. But he was still glad he was working with him and not Flor because she would’ve seen there was something on his mind right away and she would’ve _drilled_ him until he’d told her everything.

At least his headache disappeared at around noon. The shop got less and less crowded as the day passed, so Gerard managed to sneak into the breakroom to sort the comics people had sold them this week. During the last few minutes of his shift, he heard some new customers come in, not really paying attention to them because surely Sam would handle them… until he heard a voice he’d recognize anywhere. He groaned inwardly and forced himself to continue unpacking the box in front of him, acting like he couldn’t hear Flor talking to Sam in her usual flamboyant manner, hoping that maybe she’d just come by to buy a fucking comic book-

“Is Gee in the back? We really wanna talk to him.”

Fuck. Maybe he shouldn’t have thought about how glad he was he wasn’t working with her today so hard because clearly God hated him or something. Before he could think about who _we_ could possibly entail, Flor walked in, and that short girl Gerard had seen around a few times right behind her. “Hi there, haunted boy,” Flor giggled, letting Gerard know right away this wasn’t just a _how are you doing_ conversation. “You look tired as hell. What’s up? Frankie keep you up?”

“No,” Gerard mumbled, awkwardly fumbling with the comics in his lap. “Just uh, had a drink with some friends.”

He couldn’t help but glance at the other girl. She had to be the friend Flor had talked about. There was this certain intimacy about how they were standing so close to one another, like they weren’t even thinking about their personal space, and Gerard knew Mikey had been right. They weren't just friends. “Oh, you remember Ellie, right? She came by the shop a few times,” Flor said, obviously noticing Gerard looking at her. Gerard blushed and nodded.

“Yeah. Good to see you,” he said with an insecure smile and a small wave.

“You too,” Ellie giggled.

Flor gave her a fond smile before focusing on Gerard again, looking serious once more. “Okay. So, I know you kind of don’t wanna talk about the whole ghost situation in your apartment. And I know you don’t want more people involved. But before you freak out, you should know I had my reasons for telling Ellie. Tell him, El.”

“Right. Because my grandma was a psychic. She like, talked to ghosts for a living. And I learned a few things from her. I like to think I got some of her skills and my intuition from her and I’ve talked to a few ghosts before! Flor said your ghost isn’t really active anymore but I’m convinced he’s still there. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to check it out.”

For a few seconds, Gerard couldn’t really respond. Fuck. The thing was, this was such a good offer. If Frank hadn’t been doing what he’d been doing, Gerard would’ve happily let them come over and talk to him and figure shit out so Gerard could just live his life like a normal human being. But now things were different… “That’s super kind of you,” he said eventually. “But uh, it’s alright. He hasn’t been giving me any trouble, you don’t need to-”

“Look. Ghosts are spirits that have left something undone when they were alive. They need closure before they can move on. So unless harassing you for a week was the thing he so desperately wanted to do, he’s still there,” Ellie explained, sounding patient but also determined. “We need to find out what he wants. Maybe we can help him out, help him move on. Flor said he’s only been there for a few decades, which isn’t that long if you think about how he could be stuck in that apartment for the next centuries… but the sooner he gets help, the better, don’t you think? I doubt there are many people willing to deal with this stuff, so he’s really lucky to have us. We need to help him.”

With all the things Frank had been doing to him, Gerard hadn’t really had a moment to think about why Frank was a ghost, or that he could have unfinished business he needed help with. It sounded absurd. Frank was a little shit, he liked to toy with Gerard, make him do things that were just borderline uncomfortable but also somehow just what Gerard needed… He was scary, but just because he was a fucking ghost. Not because he came across like a fucking revenge-seeking maniac or anything like that.

“Yeah, I dunno,” Gerard said. Both Flor and Ellie were looking at him expectantly, so he knew he had to come up with a really good excuse to make them drop it. “I don’t really…”

“Get outta here,” Flor huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “A few days ago you were shitting your pants over this and now you don’t want Ellie’s help? She’s talked to ghosts before! I would’ve brought her to your apartment straight away if I’d known we weren’t just fucking around with that Ouija board. Why won’t you let her help you?”

Gerard swallowed. Flor had a weird effect on him, especially if there was this fire in her eyes, this passion in her voice. Gerard could only remember her speaking like this a few times because she usually was a chill and happy person – the only other time he'd seen her like this he could think of was when someone had called her Stormtrooper tattoo stupid. Gerard had never been on the receiving end of that look. It was fucking intimidating.

“He has talked to you again,” Ellie said, a lot quieter but not less determined, when Gerard struggled to answer for a few moments. “Hasn’t he? You just don’t want us to know.”

“No,” Gerard said quickly, shaking his head. “No, it’s just… I don’t wanna… you guys don’t have to…”

“ _Gee_.”

“My apartment’s a mess right now,” he half-lied. That, and there was a relatively big chance Frank would get him off as soon as he got home. His boner had gone down hours ago but he was still on edge, dying to get back to Frank… _alone_.

“So what? There’s also a ghost in it and we wanna help you. So would you please stop being an idiot and say yes?”

“I… Okay,” Gerard faltered, letting out a sigh. Fuck. He hoped Frank wouldn’t be mad. But there really didn’t seem to be anything he could do to get himself out of this one. “You’re wasting your time, guys, seriously.”

“I don’t think so,” Ellie said cheerfully. “I’m still certain we can get him to talk to us. When’s your shift end?”

“Now,” Flor replied, checking her phone. “Come on, Gee. Can’t wait to talk to Frank again.”

Begrudgingly, Gerard got his things, ignored the look Sam gave him as they said their goodbyes, and followed Flor and Ellie out onto the street. For the first time, he wished his apartment were further away, just so he could mentally brace himself for the situation at home.


End file.
